Beautiful Liar
by Lunn Lady of Angst
Summary: Mina escapes an abusive family to go to the Xmansion.Her first day, she finds John a seemingly nice boy who she's immediately attracted to.But after a DangerRoom session completely marrs her opinion of him, will John ever win her over?PreX1.PyroOC.Romance
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men. Marvel does. I own Mina. But not in a weird way. I also own her family. That might be in a weird way, but I'm not sure. You'll have to ask them. Oh, wait, you can't. You fail.

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**Chapter 1**

It was a generally peaceful evening. The summer sun was glowing a blazing orange as it set, the nightingales were cooing languidly in their perches, and a warm breeze blew the vibrant green leaves in a flutter of motion. A more peaceful evening was hard to find, excepting the occasional crash and odd scream from the house on 14 Graymalkin Lane.

Mina Felisin's father had once again tossed her across the living room in a fit of rage. Her mother wept helplessly in the doorway as he stalked over to Mina's crumpled form lying on the table. Mina's father picked her up by her hair and started screaming in her face things incomprehensible to her battered head.

"Jesus, Bryce! She's only 10 years old! You're going to kill her!" pleaded Mina's mother. Immediately, his attention was diverted to her, and he dropped Mina back onto the coffee table like a sack of potatoes.

"Why do you care what I do to her?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous. "You've got another daughter, a better daughter. This one-" he turned and gave Mina a kick with his foot "- is stupid, anti-social and ugly. Amber, on the other hand, is all the things that Mina isn't, and she's a year younger than her."

At this statement, Amber, who had until then been positioned quietly in the chair in the corner of the room, smirked and gave Mina an accusing glare, who just blinked at her. What her father said was partly true, she _was_ anti-social. The kids at her school always made fun of her because of the bruises she always came to school with, so she just didn't talk to them. Instead, she preferred to be with nature, in particular the animals in it. They didn't judge; they didn't question. They accepted her for her, and if they didn't it was because they were frightened of the fact that she was human, not because of her differences. She was definitely not stupid in any case, at least no more stupid than Amber was. The accusation that she was ugly was exaggerated, but once again not entirely fiction. She was tall and gangly for her age, with auburn hair that far too often looked uncombed and lanky. However, she'd grow out of her awkward state eventually. Her eyes were a soft, deep blue that would, were she older, stop any man in his tracks. She wasn't _totally_ ugly, but her father, Bryce, would find any excuse to make Amber seem better than Mina. Mina's mother didn't quite like what happened whenever Bryce got angry about it and tried her best to stick up for Mina whenever she could.

Mina's mother shrunk back a bit at the tone in Bryce's voice. "Even if she is, why do you have to beat her up about it? Maybe if you stopped—" She broke off as Bryce, in one angry step, seemingly leaped across the room and shoved her against the doorframe.

"I do it because I caused you to give birth to her and I'm ashamed of it. She'll never change. I'm just trying to make sure she doesn't become one of those… those mutant freaks. It seems the ugly ones are always the freaks."

Mina's mother turned to look at Mina, mainly to pry her eyes away from Bryce's predatory gaze but also to take a closer look at her daughter. "Mina's not a mutant. She can't be. We would know… My daughter could never be a mutant, she…" She broke off, painfully considering the possibility.

Mina lay on the table, her breathing short and interrupted by hacking coughs, also pondering the possibility of being a mutant, but not painfully. She considered the possibility of getting away from her family, escaping the pain and the blame. But she knew she could never leave her mother. She was her mother's firstborn, her first love. Mina would never break her mother's heart by leaving.

Besides, she wasn't a mutant. At least she didn't think she was.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: _see chapter 1_. Haha, I'm lazy. Just FYI, the first three chapters of this were written a WHILE ago, and I seem to have lost part of chapter 4, all of chapters 5 and 6, and for some reason have some of chapter 7. They were on my friend's computer cuz I lost my files when my harddrive bit the dust. So, yeah. Enjoy.

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_**Beautiful Liar  
**Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 2**

It was Mina's fourteenth birthday. She had feigned illness and came home from school early to celebrate. Alone. She lay in the cool grass under a willow tree in the back of her parents' estate and watched the butterflies flit around among the leaves, where the troubles of the world couldn't come storming through and sweep them away. Bryce was at work and her mother had gone to visit some of her high school friends in Manhattan for the afternoon. She would be back by the time Bryce got home.

Mina wasn't sure why Bryce still beat her up because she was ugly. She wasn't anymore. Mina had grown into herself considerably since the awkward age of ten. Her hair was no longer straggly and thin; it was a lush and thick auburn. She had filled out as well – Mina was not a lanky pre-teen anymore: her hips had filled out and she now had a sufficient chest to speak of. If not for all the bruises and cuts that riddled her body, there may well have been boys gawking at her through the fence in her backyard. A thought that often made Mina laugh to herself.

Mina rolled over and to lie on her stomach. The cool, spring breeze felt so nice; it made all the pain of her various cuts and bruises feel like nothing at all. It was all so very calming. She started braiding some strands of grass together and let her mind wander with the wind.

She wished she could fly away with those butterflies. Their parents didn't bother them. Mina knew that other people's parents were nice to them too, but the butterflies didn't rub it in her face. Mina resented all those happy, cooperative families with the happy little children who didn't have a care in the world. Those happy little children always looked at her like she was inferior because her father didn't love her. She always wondered how that made her less of a person but could never come up with an answer, so she stuck with resenting the foolish children and watching the butterflies. And thinking.

She didn't know why Bryce was so angry all the time. She knew it really had nothing to do with her at all because he took his anger out on her mother too, just in a different manner. It was more of a… sexual… sort of violence with her mother. What she couldn't figure out was what was so much better about Amber that made Bryce care so much more for her. Did he just feel better about beating on Mina because she was older, or did he actually think that she could be a mutant? Mina's family was incredibly anti-mutant, which was another thing that Mina couldn't find a reason for. What was wrong with mutants? They were really no different than other people, they could just do more than other people. Not such a big deal as far as Mina was concerned. It was people's fear of difference that started wars, in her opinion. She sighed and concentrated once again on the grass-braid she was working on.

A soft rustling in the bushes behind her caused Mina to drop her grass contraption and turn onto her back. _Odd, there shouldn't be anything in those bushes_. She sat up then crawled slowly over to the bushes in question.

The rustling stopped abruptly to be replaced with faint scratching sounds. Mina tilted her head curiously, wondering what sort of creature might be hiding in her garden bushes.

Slowly, ponderously, a tiny fox kit poked its head out of the bushes and stared wide-eyed at Mina. Mina stared right back at it. It was a very strange looking fox, she thought. It was grey with black flecks throughout it. Not the normal colour for a fox, Mina knew that much for sure. She inched slowly closer to the kit to get a better look at it. The kit flinched and took a step back. Mina stopped in her tracks so that she didn't scare the poor thing. _I wish I was a fox. Then I wouldn't scare her._

Suddenly, Mina was at eye level with the fox. _This is odd!_ She looked around and was rather surprised to discover that everything around her seemed strangely larger than it had been a few seconds ago. She looked back at the fox kit, who looked right back at her, its head tilted slightly.

Mina took another step forward and was surprised to find that the fox didn't even flinch. In fact, it batted her in the face. To be more specific, it batted her snout. _Wait a minute, I don't have a snout!_ Just to confirm this theory, she looked down at her face, expecting to find nothing, but was rather shocked to find a pointed, silver fox snout protruding from what was plainly her furry face.

_Dear lord Jesus, I'm a fox… How the hell can that happen? People can NOT become animals. That's just not possible. If fact, it's totally _im_possible. _Then it hit her – _I'm a mutant._ Mina thought about this fact for a few seconds, overwhelmed. She then made a very good decision to never tell anybody that she was a mutant._ That would be classified as a "Very Bad Idea"_.

However, since she was currently a fox, she figured she might as well play with the other fox, seeing as nobody was home and nobody ought to be coming home for at least another few hours. The fox kit batted her in the snout again, encouraging her to join in. The fox and Mina then proceeded to frolic off into the bushes, happy as can be.

As preoccupied as Mina was with enjoying herself for once in her life, she didn't notice the lone figure of Amber gazing out the window into the garden, a smirk crossing her face from ear to over-large ear.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: _see chapter 1_. If you haven't read chapter 1 already that is. Nothing shall ever change in my disclaimer and I would hope that people would read the story from the beginning in any case.

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**Chapter 3**

Two hours after Mina had frolicked off into the woods with the young silver fox, she returned to the garden alone. She cautiously looked around, checking to make sure that no one was around, then transformed back into a human, accompanied by the strong scent of sweet spices. Her mother would be home soon, and she didn't want to be caught as a fox in front of her. Who knew what might happen if her mother found out her beloved firstborn was a mutant… Mina shuddered at the thought.

Mina started off towards the house, only to be caught by surprise. It was a very nasty surprise too. Amber – _nasty, stuck up bitch_ – had stepped out from behind a large tree with the largest, evil grin that Mina had ever seen on the girl stretched across her pimply face._ Oh god, what's she smiling about?_ Then it hit her – Amber must've seen Mina transform. _Not good! Not good not good not good!_ There was only one way to find out for sure, though, and Mina didn't want to be worrying for no good reason, so she decided to figure out the source of the toothy grin for herself.

"What's got you so pleased?" Mina snarled at her younger sister.

Amber grinned larger. "Oh, I think you know." Then came that horrid, annoying evil snicker. Mina hated that evil snicker. She knew something bad was going to happen when Amber did that. "I saw you."

Mina knew that was a bad thing. It was a very bad thing. She decided that the best thing to do would be to stall until her mother got home and tell her that Amber was making it all up before Amber even got a chance to say anything. So, Mina replied, "I saw you too. A few seconds ago. I'm seeing you right now as well. Good on you for learning how to see."

Amber scowled. It wasn't her normal scowl either. That scowl was almost permanent. Amber had two main expressions: scowl and evil grin. Mina hated both of them. However, this scowl was different. This one was dangerous. _Oh shit, I think that was a bad idea…_

"You better watch yourself, foxy, or I may just have to go tell Mom that you're a… a… a mutant!" Amber spitted that last word out with such vehemence that a shower of spit rained down on Mina's head. _Ew, gross! I just had a shower this morning… _However, the threat of Amber telling their mother that Mina was a mutant was a bit more pressing than the obvious insult of a spit bath.

If Mina had hackles, they would've been raised at Amber's last threat. The last thing Mina ever, _ever_ wanted was for her mother to find out. Her mother was the only person that loved her, but Mina feared that would change the instant her mother found out about what Mina was. Mina couldn't let Amber do that. She couldn't, and she wouldn't let that happen. Mina gulped.

"You wouldn't do that."

"Oh yes I would."

Mina decided to conjecture.

"If you do that, you'll be the only one left for Bryce to beat on. Do you think you'd like that? Him beating on you? I sure don't."

"Bryce would never do that to me. I'd be doing him a favour. He's always wanted to kill you and Mom is the only thing stopping him right now. I'd be his absolute favourite person ever if I got Mom to disown you."

Mina knew she was right. She knew with a sickening certainty that Amber knew exactly what would happen and that she had just told Mina exactly what it was.

"You wouldn't do that to me. I'm you're sister. You may not like me very much, but I'm still you sister. You wouldn't tell."

"Just watch me."

At that, Amber turned on her heel and headed towards the house. _What's she playing at, Mom's not even home yet… I don't think._

"Amber! Mom's not even home yet! Where are you going?"

"Mom _is _home, and I'm going inside to tell her."

Amber continued walking. Mina sprinted ahead of her and stopped directly in front of Amber, halting her in her tracks. They were mere inches from each other. Looking into Amber's brown eyes, Mina saw everything she ever hated about her sister reflected back at her. All the hate, all the pain, all the suffering that her existence ever brought on to Mina was in those eyes. Just seeing them filled Mina with a feral rage that she couldn't get control over. In that instant, she knew what she had to do.

"I won't let you tell her," Mina growled, a deep, dangerous rumble that was so uncharacteristic of her.

If Amber had been paying more attention, she would've figured out that this Mina – the Mina that was now staring at her with clouded over, stormy blue eyes, eyes normally soft and gentle, the Mina whose voice had never before reached a timber so low, the Mina whose chest was heaving with rage – was no pushover. She didn't know that Mina wouldn't take no for an answer, not this time. Instead, she was so preoccupied with her apparent victory that she noticed none of this and forged obtusely onward with gusto.

Amber looked at Mina, disgust plain on her face, and pushed her out of the way.

Something in Mina's mind exploded. _That was your last mistake…_ Before Amber even had the chance to notice what was happening, Mina was all over her. Not a normal, human Mina though. Oh no, Mina had quickly adopted her newfound powers and was attacking her in a feral state. Mina had transformed into a huge, grey timber wolf and was tearing at her hated sister with huge canines. Amber didn't stand and sliver of a chance.

It was over before it had the chance to start. Mina, still a wolf, was standing overtop of what had a second before been her sister. Blood stained her sleek fur, turning it a deep red. Bits of flesh clung to her incisors in stringy bits. And Amber was dead, torn to shreds.

Mina had killed her.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: _see chapter 1_

Author's note: The first half of this was written last year some time. The rest I wrote, like, in the past half our. I'm peeved, cuz I lost the next chapter and it was killer. It was from Pyro's p.o.v. and it was FUN. But now it's gone and I have to write it again and it won't be half as good as it was before. pouts Anywho, enjoy this chapter!

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_**Beautiful Liar  
**Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 4**

Mina backed up slowly from her sister's corpse, the rage in her mind slowly starting to cool leaving Mina's mind numb. The thought that she had just killed another human kept pouring through her head, time after painful time.

A sound broke through the haze enfolding Mina's mind – a rustling at the second story window of her house. Mina turned her head languidly towards the window only to shrink back in surprise and alarm when she saw her mother staring out at her, mouth wide open. _Oh, fuck, not good_. Any remorseful thoughts about what she had just done were immediately scratched from her mind to be replaced by this new problem.

Mina turned and began to run towards the woods. Before she could take more than a few strides, however, a sharp pain bit into her back thigh. Mina yelped in pain and promptly, instinctively, transformed back into her human form. She collapsed onto the ground then turned to see her mother holding a rifle in shaking arms. Plastered across her face was a look of extreme fear and shock. Mina knew she was done for; the wound in her leg would likely bleed out if she didn't get help, and after what her mother just saw, Mina knew that help was unlikely.

What Mina did not expect, however, was that her mother would continue to fire upon her now that she was down. She was wrong, of course. To Mina's dismay, she watched her mother hoist the rifle up again and pull the trigger. Mina watched, in seeming slow motion, as the bullet flew through the window and into her shoulder, throwing her back onto the grass.

_She shot me. She knew it was me, and she shot me. I can't believe it… She was supposed to love me. I was her first, her favourite. She shot me._ Mina's mind was losing its sense of reason again. The feral instinct was taking over again with indignant abandon.

Mina's mother might have been safe if she had left it at that, only shooting her once. However, she then made her third and last mistake. Mina watched, horrified and filled with rage, as her mother filled the gun one more time with a bullet, which she proceeded to fire at her firstborn daughter. This bullet hit Mina in the abdomen.

The full force of the hit was never felt though. Mina had become so overcome with rage that she transformed almost immediately after the bullet hit her. She had transformed into, not one, but millions of wasps. She flew, in a mob, towards her mother on the second floor.

Mina couldn't think. She couldn't rationalize, she couldn't even see straight. All she knew was that her mother had betrayed her and that was unforgivable. She would pay for what she had just done. And that was that. She would have to die. Mina was consumed by feral instinct and adrenaline.

The mass of wasps that was Mina finally reached her mother and started attacking fiercely and without remorse. Millions of wasps were stinging the frail woman that was now writhing on the ground and all Mina could feel was that this was somehow payback for the fourteen horrid years she had been forced to endure because this woman was too weak to stop the pain.

Suddenly and without warning, a bullet whizzed through the mass of wasps, killing several instantly. Almost as instantly, Mina transformed and spun around to see her father holding a smoking handgun threateningly in front of him.

Thoughts zoomed through Mina's mind at lightening speed: _this is the man that beat me, this is the man that addled my sister's mind into hating me, this is the cause of all my problems_. Without a second thought, Mina transformed into five silver foxes and leapt at Bryce.

She tore at him as if she were tearing away all of her problems. He fired his gun feebly a few times before he was overcome with pain. When he ceased to breathe, Mina knew he was dead but the power inside her was so overwhelming, so great, that she could not bring herself to stop her onslaught against her abusive father.

When her rage finally subsided, Mina reverted back to her human form, out of breath and covered in blood – both her own and the blood of her victims. Her feral instinct gone, she stared in horror at the bloodbath she had wrought upon her family. She was terrified. If she was caught here, she'd surely get caught. The only thing she could think to do, since she could now thing rationally, was to run. She wasn't sure where she would run; all she knew was that she had to get out of the house. She began to panic again, her adrenaline starting pumping again.

The nearest thing to her was an open window – her quickest escape. She jumped at it, feeling herself transforming into a swallow and flying out of it. Hitting the ground, she felt herself once again as human. She began to run. She didn't know where she was going or what was going on, she was just running away.

Mina slowed down her panicked run as she began to feel weak and light-headed. _What's going on? What's wrong with me?_ Her thoughts were starting to jumble and get fuzzy. She realized she wasn't going to last much longer just running down the street.

Frantically looking around for any safe place to rest, she saw a brick wall enclosing what looked to be a small group of trees. _That looks safe…_ Using up almost all of her diminishing energy, she transformed into a swallow and flew over the high brick wall. Unable to keep up the energy required to remain transformed, she crashed haphazardly to the ground.

Mina looked up. _There's a house… a big house… I just need to get there… I need… help…_ She started crawling, dragging her injured arm with her, towards the mansion in the distance. By the time she reached the edge of the clump of trees, the sun had almost set and Mina could barely keep her eyes open.

Knowing she couldn't keep going any longer, Mina collapsed on the ground, panting, her breathing laboured. She was fading. She managed one final thought before she passed out: _I'm a mutant… I killed my family… I can never… do that… again…_

With that, her power drained from her body and she fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: _see chapter 1._ 'Nuff said.

A/N: I appreciate all the comments I've been getting on this story. I wasn't actually going to post it until it was finished, since there's nothing I can't stand more than a good story that goes unfinished, but after losing chapters 5 and 6, I decided against it. However, as I am busy with school and work and whatnot, please do not expect chapters to show up quickly. That said, enjoy!

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_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 5**

"John, put that _away_!"

John Allerdyce flicked the lid back on his lighter and shoved it back into his pocket. Storm, who was currently teaching them weather patterns – _shock_ –, was always such a nag to him in class when it came to his lighter. It wasn't that he smoked or anything – he'd heard enough about lung cancer to decide that smoking was a bad idea – he just always played with it in class.

Class bored him. Class was useless to him. The only "class" that he liked was Danger Room training. And that was more learning to fight and defend than actual learning. What good was actual learning to a mutant anyway? What would he need it for when he could just use his powers?

John looked out the window, trying to ignore the drone of Storm's voice telling them about cumulus clouds and storm fronts. The sun was beginning a slow descent marking late afternoon. He fidgeted in his chair. All the other students were taking careful notes. _Bobby's taking notes; I can look off his._ He looked out the window again. The breeze blowing in was warm and inviting.

Snatching up his books and bag, John clattered out of his chair and headed towards the door.

Storm stopped mid-sentence. "And where do you think you're going, Mr. Allerdyce?" she sputtered indignantly at his back.

"Outside. For a walk," he said simply. He made his way quickly and purposefully through the mansion, Xavier's School for the Gifted, and outside.

He sighed. _I can't stand being cooped up inside doing nothing. What I should be learning is how to use my power, not history. If it weren't for Silence, I'd leave. They don't let me do anything useful. This is bullshit._

He wandered aimlessly through the yard, not paying attention to where he was going, nor really caring. It was getting dark when he reached the edge of the mansion's expansive lawn and a small clump of trees. He was about to turn back, stomach grumbling, when he saw something out of place in the trees – something not made of plant. _What's that? Whatever it is, it wasn't there yesterday._ He pushed into the trees to get a closer look.

John inched towards the unknown mass in the woods, and on closer inspection discovered exactly what it was._ Oh my god, it's a person. An unconscious person._ He leaned over to take her pulse, which was barely there, then tried to roll her over. However, he quickly snatched his hand away. _Shit, she's covered in blood. I gotta do something!_

He snatched up her surprisingly light form in his arms and ran towards the mansion. He had to find Jean Grey. She was a doctor; she would know what to do.

He had barely reached the door to the mansion when Jean, Storm, and Scott Summers showed up looking anxious.

"John, give her to us, we'll take care of her," Scott muttered absently, taking the girl from John's arms.

"How did you know I was coming? Is she going to be okay?" John asked, a bit taken aback.

Jean replied quickly, "The professor sensed something was wrong and sent us out. Don't worry; I'm sure she'll be fine. Go eat supper or something; we'll take good care of her."

John watched them run off. "I never worry," he called after them, slightly indignant. _Holy crap, I save the girl and don't even get a 'thank you'? Fine establishment this is…_

With that, he trundled off to find Bobby and get the notes he missed from Storm's class.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** see chapter 1 for full disclaimer. In short (as a reminder), I don't own X-Men. Marvel does. C'est la.

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_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 6**

"Professor… what happened to her?"

"It's… difficult to tell; she's put up an excellent block around that."

"But – how did she get these wounds? And why is her mouth covered in blood? It's almost as if she… as if she…"

"--almost as if she tore at something. Like an animal, yes. However…"

"What is it Professor?"

"It's strange. I can sense no great power in her that could have allowed her to show that sort of ferocity under such injuries. Nor is there anything I can sense in her personality that seems capable of feeling such hatred or violence."

"Then what do you think caused it?"

Mina could hear voices. Her head was swimming and she could not open her eyes. The voices were barely registering. They weren't making much sense. She could tell that a man and a women were speaking, and that they were talking about her (one of them kept placing his hands against her temples when he spoke about her), but not much else._ Blood? Ferocity? I can't have done… no…_

"I think… maybe… This block. It could be blocking a section of her powers."

"But, Professor, how could she do something like that? How can you block your own powers?"

"Jean… she could block them if they were rooted in her subconscious."

"In her… but no one's powers are in their subconscious. That would mean that she would just use them without thinking, without even processing what she was doing."

"Which is exactly what I think she was doing, Jean. How else? Obviously her subconscious, her instincts, sensed a great danger and reacted accordingly. And now… she must have been terrified. She blocked it."

"But Professor, will she still be able to use her powers?"

"Yes, Jean, but they will be limited. She probably won't remember what happened, nor will she be able to sense the true depth of her powers. I think that it's for the best."

There was a long pause. Mina thought she heard some movement from somewhere beside her. The man was breathing softly from above her. She was disoriented. She didn't know what was going on. She was scared.

"Jean?"

"Yes Professor?"

"She is in shock. I think I will try and bring her mind back. Safely. She is starting to stir, but I do not think she is ready…"

"I'll put her back under then?"

"Yes. Yes, that would be good. Thank you."

Mina felt something cold and sharp press against her arm. _No! I don't want… let me up…_ Her arm twitched, and then the needle was in her arm, sedating her.

She drifted back into unconsciousness, losing the disembodied conversation along with her awareness.

* * *

Mina twitched awake. She found herself in a metallic, serious-looking room. She was lying strapped to a bed with an IV needle in her arm. When she wriggled her arms in the restraints, testing them, a red-headed woman walked over from the other side of the room. 

"Well, look who's awake!" she beamed. Mina stared at her, wide-eyed. The woman smiled at her and undid the restraints on Mina's arms and removed the IV. She then knelt down beside the bed so that she was face-to-face with Mina.

"I'm Jean Grey. I'm the doctor at this school. You've made a good recovery. It seems you were shot. Don't worry," she said quickly at Mina's terrified and shocked expression, "you'll be perfectly fine. We've stitched you all up. You'll be fine in no time." When Mina merely continued to stare at Jean, she continued.

"Now, this may come as a shock to you, but you're at a school for the gifted – a school for mutants. I don't know if you knew this already, but you are a mutant." Jean held up a picture of what Mina took to be DNA. She pointed to a colourful anomaly in the otherwise stable pattern. "This is a mutation in your genetics that causes you to have special abilities that other people don't have." Mina stared, wide-eyed.

Jean's eyes softened. "Now, I know that something has happened to you, and I have a pretty good idea why. Most people don't understand mutants. They are afraid of us. They don't need to be; most of us have no wish to harm humans. Some mutants, however, have tainted the opinions of humans by acting against them, so we are now all judged by these actions by some humans. That is why we have this school. It is a place for us to be safe without worrying about the dangers of the humans that would try to harm us, to eradicate us.

You don't need to tell me what happened to you. I have a feeling, and so does Professor Xavier, that you don't remember yourself what happened to you. It doesn't matter. You have a home here, a safe one, and we'd like you to stay. Will you?" Jean finished speaking and looking at Mina, waiting for her to reply.

Mina looked back, eyes searching into those of Jean. They looked soft and kind, and, most of all, trustworthy. Here was a person that knew that Mina was different and did not care. All her life, her father had punished her for thinking her to be different, without truth, and this woman, a mere stranger that didn't even know her name, was willing to take her in, knowing that she was different. It baffled her. What she could really not comprehend, though, was how she came to be there.

"Why… how… how did I get here? Where am I?" she asked, voice cracking – it seemed worn and out of use.

Jean smiled gently. "One of our students, about a year older than you, found you at the edge of the grounds. You were barely alive. He carried you back here to the mansion. This is Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters. All of the students and teachers here are mutants. We teach you how to control and use your powers as well as all the other normal school stuff, so you'll be able to get a normal job once you're done, if you want."

Mina took a deep breath. She wanted to be here, she really did. She was just still so confused. Why had she been unconscious and bleeding on the edge of their property in the first place? Shouldn't she have been at home, celebrating her birthday with her mother? She decided to find out.

"Where are my parents? How did I get there in the first place? Shouldn't my parents be here?"

Looking sympathetic, Jean replied, "Now, the problem with that is that we don't know who you are, so we can't find your parents. We have no idea how you got there. The Professor checked around in your memories while he was trying to put your mind back together without it being damaged, and he couldn't get into the ones with your parents. Your own mind blocked it off." Jean's voice softened to almost a whisper. "I don't think you want your parents here, do you?"

Mina paused, then shook her head. No, she really didn't want her parents around. If this place offered her a safe haven, then why wouldn't she stay here instead of go home where all she got was pain and suffering. In the back of her mind, a little voice kept telling her that there was nothing left for her at home, nothing at all, that she had gotten rid of it, but Mina didn't know what that voice was talking about. Nevertheless, she decided to heed it.

"I'll stay."

Jean's smile broadened. "Excellent. In that case, could you tell me your name?"

"Mina. Mina Felisin. I'm fourteen. It was my birthday tod—recently" She tailed off, not knowing exactly how long she had been unconscious.

"Well Mina, up you get. Let's find out what your powers actually are and how far you can go with them. Come with me." Jean straightened and headed towards the door leading out of the metallic room. Mina got up gingerly and followed. Jean led them down an equally metallic corridor and into a different metallic room.

Once in there, Jean sealed the door and asked Mina to demonstrate her mutation. Mina hesitated, and then turned into the first thing that popped into her head – a silver fox. Jean smiled. She asked Mina if there was anything else she could do. Without thinking, Mina morphed into three separate foxes, each independent of each other. When Jean asked if there was any other animal she could transform into, Mina morphed, successively, into a horse, twelve rabbits, a swarm of flies, two lions, and back to her human form. Seeming pleased, Jean enquired as to how Mina was feeling. She was feeling fine.

Then Jean asked her to turn into a different mutant, namely, herself. When Mina attempted this, she was immediately afflicted with a splitting headache. She felt as though her head was being torn open by a red-hot knife. She changed back to herself after what seemed to be only a split second. She fell to the floor, gasping for air.

Jean ran over to make she Mina was okay. "I guess that won't work, will it? Maybe after some training, you can progress to more complex life-forms. Even without turning into mutants, your power is impressive. I think we can call it a day now, don't you?"

Still suffering from the aftermath of her failed transformation, Mina nodded vigorously at that proposition. She was quite ready to call it a day.

* * *

Mina knocked on a large wooden door. After leading Mina upstairs out of the metallic wonderland, Jean led her into what seemed to be a large Victorian-esque mansion. She then instructed her that she would be sharing a room with another mutant her own age on the second floor, third door to the left. Mina had found the room, and was now attempting to gain entry. 

"Come in!" came a shout from inside the room. Mina cracked the door open slightly to see a girl with shiny red hair sitting on her bed with headphones covering her ears reading a comic book. _She looks friendly enough…_ Mina opened the door wider and inched inside the room.

As soon as the girl sensed that the door-knocker wasn't going to speak, she looked up. Not recognizing the new-comer, she removed her headphones and got up.

"Um, hi?" she said, questioningly.

"Erm, I'm Mina." She waved nervously. "Jean Grey told me that I was supposed to share a room with you. I'm new, you see…" She shifted her eyes around the room nervously, not quite sure what to expect from her would-be roommate.

The girl immediately lit up with a huge grin. "Awesome! I've wanted a roommate for a while. It's so boring all by yourself! I'm Silence." She jabbed her hand towards Mina enthusiastically, looking for a handshake.

Mina grabbed Silence's outstretched hand, glad to be accepted so easily, and shook it. "I'm Mina."

Silence sat back down, satisfied with the introduction. "You can have that bed," she said, motioning to the one she wasn't sitting on. "I got my brother to wash the sheets the other day with his, so they should smell lemony fresh." Mina sat down on the lemon bed.

Silence looked at her for a few seconds, and then asked, "What are your powers? I can make fire!" At that, she produced a small ball of flame in the palm of her hand.

Mina grinned. "Neat! I can turn into animals."

"Ooooo, let's see!" Silence demanded eagerly. Mina obliged, turning once again into a small silver fox. "That's so cool! You could actually do stuff with that other than wreck stuff. You could do reconnaissance or something. I'm jealous."

"I like fire better. Fire doesn't shed." Mina giggled, and Silence joined in.

Soon, the girls were chatting up a storm. Mina felt normal. She felt like she fit in. That giddy, happy feeling didn't wear off, not even when she climbed into bed, exhausted, to go to sleep. She had barely wondered what would be in store for her the following day when she crashed into a deep, restful sleep.

* * *

A/N: Holy crow, that was a long chapter! I think it might even eclipse chapter 7 in length. Not sure though. I think I reached the point I was at in the next chapter okay. Once I post it, if there's any discontinuity, blame my computer crash. I am completely innocent 


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** see chapter 1 for full disclaimer

A/N:I used a bit of X-Ecutioner Style by Linkin Park from their Reanimation album in this. See if you can find it! Also, chapter 6 totally pwned this chapter in length. At least for words. Huzzah!

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 7**

The sun was dancing idly through the blinds when Mina awoke the next morning, refreshed and alert for the first time in her life. She shifted in her bed to look next to her to find Silence still fast asleep. She gazed in awe around her room, registering that it really did exist and wasn't just a dream.

Mina crawled quietly out of bed, making sure that she didn't wake Silence. She donned the clothes that she had worn the day before and slid out of the room, leaving the door ajar. Mina was going exploring.

She decided to fulfill the needs of her empty belly and searched first for the kitchen, where she hoped to find food. She walked down the staircase to the first floor, assuming that the kitchen wouldn't be on the same floor as the girls' rooms otherwise the guys wouldn't be able to eat.

After wandering the first floor for a while, thoroughly unsuccessful, she trekked back upstairs to see if anyone else was awake and could _show _her where the kitchen was. She wandered through the halls for a bit, and, finding no one, started making her way to the third floor.

Halfway up, however, she ran into Trouble. She didn't fall down the stairs, she didn't suddenly pass out, and she wasn't attacked by anything. She ran into Trouble. At least, that's what Silence later told her was what she called him.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Mina mumbled as she picked herself back up – she had bounced off of the boy. "I'm so clumsy. I wasn't watching where I was going." Mina blushed in embarrassment as the person she ran into just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

After a pregnant pause, his face returned to a normal resting position. "It's alright, I wasn't watching where I was going either." He smiled at her.

Mina smiled back. They stood smiling at each other for what seemed like a very long time but in reality was only about 13 seconds. Mina's stomach then growled impatiently.

"Um, sorry to bother you, but do you think you could show me where the kitchen is?" Mina asked.

"Yeah, sure, I was just headed there myself. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks a lot, I really appreciate it. I new here, I don't know my way around yet." She giggled nervously.

"Yeah, I know. Bobby said he saw a new girl around. I wondered when I'd see you."

Mina just smiled at the boy then watched her feet follow him to the kitchen. She was still nervous about being around so many mutants. It wasn't that she was afraid of them, because she wasn't. She was just always nervous in new situations. She'd get over it though, she knew. She always did. Especially when people were nice to her. Like this boy she was following. She looked up.

* * *

John didn't notice that the conversation had drifted off or that the girl was staring at him from behind. He was too caught up in his own thoughts.

_That has to be the girl I rescued. She looks the same. And no one said anything about there being _two_ new students. She must be the same girl. And if she's out here she must be a mutant. I wonder what her powers are. I wonder if I should ask what happened to her. I wonder if I should tell her I saved her. Why does she looks so haunted? And why—whoops, here's the kitchen!_

John stopped in his tracks. The girl, not noticing quick enough that he'd stopped, bumped into the back of him and fell over. She uttered a soft "oof" as she hit the floor. Looking at her, John thought she looked rather dazed and confused.

He extended his hand to help her up. "Sorry about that, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going. We almost missed the kitchen." He hoisted her up.

Brushing herself off, the girl smiled at him. "That's okay, I wasn't paying attention either." She peered into the room they were standing next to. "So this is the kitchen?" She jabbed her thumb towards it.

"Yeah, sure is. You can help yourself to whatever you want in there. Just don't eat it all."

The girl bounded in the door, only to stop and wheel about to face him again. "Thanks for showing me." She beamed.

"No problem." He started walking away, clearly forgetting that he was hungry.

The girl called after him however. "Hey! Um, what's your name?" She was holding herself up by grabbing the doorframe and was swinging about on it in the hall.

"John."

"I'm Mina."

And with that, they both headed on their way, Mina with thoughts of food running through her head, John filled with confused thoughts and feelings about Mina and nothing making any sense to him.

* * *

Mina wolfed down a big bowl of cereal, followed by a blueberry muffin, two bananas and four glasses of milk. Sufficiently full, she sat at the table and let herself think.

_It's so nice here. Everybody's being nice to me. I'm bruised and cut up and nobody cares. And there's some hot boys too._ She was, of course, thinking about John. _He seemed so confident with himself, and confident is something I'll never be. I wonder how long he's been here. He sure seems nice. _Mina was feeling for him something unfamiliar and warm. She found it a bit exciting.

Her train of thought was broken by a mass of children pouring into the kitchen and attacking the fridge like a pack of rabid animals. Mina took this as a very good time to make her grand escape and traversed her way to the door. She trekked back up to her room to see if Silence was awake yet. She had mentioned the night before something about classes and having to go to them. Mina had no idea where she'd be needed, so she needed Silence to show her.

Opening the door to her room, she found Silence in front of a mirror putting her hair up in a ponytail. Silence glanced over at Mina when she walked in.

"We've got a Danger Room session first thing today. I don't know if Storm and Scott will make you do it today, since you're just new, but I'd wear something more flexible than that just in case." She gestured at Mina's worn jeans and sweatshirt.

Mina shifted uncomfortably. "Actually, this is all I've got. Do you think they'll mind?"

Silence looked incredulous. "That's all you've got? Odd. Well, you can borrow some of my stuff until we can get you out shopping for something new." Silence pulled out some black yoga pants from one drawer, a tight black tank from another, and a grey cotton sweater from her closet and threw them at Mina. "Here, put these on. They should work. Oh, and put your hair up too. Don't want it getting in your face. You won't be able to use your powers all the time to get through the stuff in the Danger Room."

Mina pulled on the clothes Silence had lent her. "What is the Danger Room anyways?" she asked while pulling her hair back into a messy bun.

Silence smirked. "It's a training room for mutants. I won't tell you any more than that, though, I'll let you find out for yourself. It's _fun_…"

Mina didn't feel very reassured by that answer. She didn't think, though, that she would be put into any unnecessary danger by her new teachers and guardians so she followed Silence into the basement.

They stopped in front of a closed door where Storm and Scott were waiting. Storm had her long, white hair pulled back in ponytail and was wearing a leather suit while Scott had on a strange visor and was also wearing a leather suit. Mina leaned over to whisper in Silence's ear.

"What are their powers?" she asked quietly.

"Storm can control the weather and Scott shoots, like, a laser beam out his eyes. That's why he wears ruby quartz glasses – to protect the masses."

Silence had to cut her explanation short when Storm started explaining the lesson.

"Today we'll be pairing you up and sending you in together. You'll have to work your way through a course until you reach the flag at the end. Each course will be geared to each of your different mutant abilities to create the greatest challenge. The pair to reach the flag the fastest will be able to skip Danger Room training for the rest of the week." She looked over at Scott and smirked when she told the teenagers about the incentive. He didn't look very happy about it.

Scott started moving around the group of mutants and pairing them up. Silence was grouped with John. Neither of them seemed very pleased with this pairing, but when John started to protest, Silence leapt on his back and shoved her fists into his mouth to make him stop. When Mina threw them a frightened look, Silence explained that they were brother and sister and that it was normal for her to beat on her brother. At that, John tossed her off his back and into the crowd._ He certainly seems different from when he showed me the kitchen this morning… a lot more… angry. I wonder why…_

By the time Scott got to Mina, there was no one else for her to be paired up with.

"Mina, you can either sit this one out or we can stick you into another group. It's your decision."

Mina thought about it for a bit. She was eager to try out her new powers in a purposeful test, but she wasn't sure she was ready for the Danger Room. However, Silence was looking at her like she'd be a chicken to turn it down, so she told Scott that she'd like to join another group.

Scott's eyes searched over the pairs of assembled mutants, finally resting them on Silence and John, who were having a silent argument with each other. "You can pair up with Silence and John. Maybe that will stop them from just burning the whole Danger Room down again." Silence glared accusingly at John, who glared just as accusingly back at Silence. "You three can go first then. We'll want most of the period to look after burns and whatnot anyways."

Scott's last comment was a tremendous cause of confusion for Mina, who had no idea what he was talking about. She walked cautiously up to the door of the Danger Room and waited for it to open. When it did, Silence shoved her in.

"Hurry up, we haven't got all day. Danger Room sessions are definitely something we want to skip for a week, believe me."

What Mina saw in the Danger Room was not what she expected. She had a feeling this was going to be a lot tougher than she'd imagined.

With a thud, the door to the Danger Room closed ominously behind her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own X-Men. Marvel does.

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 8**

Mina crawled out of the Danger Room. It had been like nothing she had ever experienced. It was, she contemplated, the hardest thing she had ever done. It didn't help matters that Silence and John kept trying to set each other on fire instead of helping her get through. Consequently, they had probably gotten the slowest time of the group. Kitty Pryde and Piotr Rasputin had won, earning themselves a week off from Danger Room activities. After experiencing one of her own, Mina could see why Silence had wanted this prize.

What really infuriated Mina, though, was John. He was nothing like the person who had shown her the kitchen in the morning. He was arrogant, self-centred, and violent. It was baffling, really, that people could change personalities that quickly. One moment, he was kind and caring, and the next he was acting like her sister. Mina shuddered. _Don't think about her…_ Some part of her mind told her that the subject of her sister was not one she wanted to revisit.

John and Silence were off bickering in the hallway in front of Mina on their way to the kitchen. Suddenly, John turned mid-insult to stare at Mina.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, after a pause.

This was the perfect opportunity for Mina to vent her frustration. "Oh, yeah, just peachy! I nearly get pummelled by who knows how many metallic _things_, almost caught in at least five doors, not to _mention_," -she paused here in her shouting for dramatic effect- "almost getting burnt to a crisp by the two of you. Oh, yeah, the perfect start to the morning. I'm just fine."

John just stared at her. Clearly, the sarcasm was not registering.

Mina, thoroughly yelled out, morphed into a fox and sped past him, passing the kitchen by and going to her room, where she morphed back to humanoid and slammed the door shut behind her.

Breathing hard, Mina collapsed on her bed. _Why am I getting so worked up over him? It's not like I ever have to talk to him again. There are _loads_ of other kids my age here to hang out with. Just because he's Silence's brother doesn't mean I have to like him. He was probably only being nice to me before because he didn't know I knew her. Why should I care how he acts? He's just a self-serving, arrogant, little boy that I barely know nor should I have to know more of. So why do I care so much? Ugh!_ Mina hid her head under her pillow.

She poked her head out when she her a soft knock at the door, followed by the appearance of Silence's head between it and the door frame, thankfully unaccompanied by her brother.

"Mina?" she said, tentatively, opening the door farther and slipping into the room and shutting it behind her.

"What?" Mina sighed.

Silence sat on the bed opposite Mina and sighed. "Look, I'm really sorry about this morning. I always get so carried away when I'm in there with John. He just makes me so _mad_. We've never got along. Not since we were really little and lived in Australia. That was when our parents were still alive. But ever since they died, we've, just… Well, I think we just blame each other for what's happened since then. We're not used to having other people with us in there." By 'in there', Mina assumed she meant the Danger Room, as she didn't elaborate. Silence continued. "John's also a dolt when it comes to how he acts. He thinks that he can just go off and do whatever he wants and there won't be any consequences. You know, when you yelled at him, he had no idea why you were doing it. He's so dense!"

Mollified, Mina giggled. "Tell me about it! He's a guy. Guy's are dense. No getting around that."

"Um, duh!"

The girls giggled. They got changed and headed off to their next class.

Walking down the hall, Mina sighed. _Silence I can forgive. Silence apologised. But if what she said is true, John probably won't. I refuse to forgive him if he doesn't apologise. He can do anything he wants or look as good as he wants, I will not forgive him and I will not be nice to him if he doesn't get over himself. And that's that._

Feeling resolved, Mina stepped into her next class determined to stick to her decision and not let herself get tossed around emotionally. She had already had enough with being tossed around physically.

* * *

A/N: Oh noes, another short chapter. Meh. There will be a time jump in the next one, just to forewarn you. Often, romance doesn't work well at fourteen, so I am TIME LAPSING! MWAHAHAHA!!!!! … ahem… 


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I don't own X-Men. Marvel does. I forgot to mention when she showed up in the story, but Silence Allerdyce belongs to my friend Li. All other OCs are mine. La.

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 9**

Mina pulled her long jacket tight against herself and trudged through the snow that covered the lane away from the mansion. She had just finished another day of schooling and Danger Room sessions and she needed to get away. Even through the snow. _God, how I hate snow. It gets stuck in fur and inside boots and in between toes._

Three years after her first Danger Room session and her decision to distance herself from John Allerdyce – _St._ John Allerdyce – Mina had grown fully into herself and what she could do with her mutation. She still could not transform into other humans, let alone mutants. This frustrated her to no end, but she was mollified by the fact that the other aspects of her mutation were virtually unbeatable in a fight. She could morph quickly as a though, as well as multiply. This proved useful in dodging and disappearing from her enemy and reappearing in greater force when they least expected it. However, she hoped she would never have to use her mutation against an enemy. She felt perfectly fine using it against John, though.

She had become fast friends with Silence Allerdyce and Kitty Pryde. Silence and Mina shared a mutual contempt for Silence's brother; however, Silence often gave in to sisterly love whereas Mina did not give in. Her resolve remained resolute. Mostly. Today it was being shaken and prised apart. So Mina was walking. _In the damned snow, for heaven's sake._ She scowled.

Pushing the gates of the Institute open, she turned onto the sidewalk and strolled along in the opposite direction of her old home, which had not returned to since the age of fourteen, when she had killed her family in self defence. That day still haunted her dreams, often waking her in feverish sweats. Every once in a while, Silence would notice and worry, but Mina refused to tell anyone willingly what happened. She wanted to keep it a secret, locked behind the brick wall in her mind. Only the Professor and Jean Grey knew what happened, but they were the only ones who needed to know, as far as Mina was concerned. _Not_ _everyone needed to know my secrets._

So lost in these thoughts was she that she did not even register the presence of another person walking towards her on the sidewalk. Consequently, she ran headlong into him, knocking them both to the snow-padded ground.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Mina professed as soon as she noticed her error. "I'm suck a klutz; I should pay more attention to where I'm going!" She scrambled up to help he victim up as well, but he had already stood.

"It's okay, I forgive you. I often forgive pretty girls such as yourself." The man grinned a suave grin at her and blinked. Mina blinked back.

"Th-thank you."

"No need. Just a warm drink at the café down the street will do as recompense for your error."

"You sound like you just swallowed a dictionary."

"Alas, it is the curse of reading too many books." The man bowed slightly, directing her forward, then walked beside her. "What's your name?" He asked after a few paces of their snow-impeded movement.

"Mina Felisin. What's yours?" She continued along beside him cautiously, warily, unsure how much she should give away to this almost complete stranger.

"Felisin?" He paused.

Mina's mind decided to have a breakneck-paced-panic. _Shit. He knows my last name. He knows my family. He knows I'm the only one who wasn't killed. He'll know I killed them. He'll report me to the police. He'll—_

"What a pretty last name! Mine is not so fine. It's just Erikson. Full name – Ronan Erikson. My friends just call me Ron. You, too, can call me Ron."

Mina's mental panic halted abruptly. She grinned. "Sure. Mind me asking where we're going? I don't really go to cafés. Mainly just malls."

"Oh, just a little place down the street. Nowhere of consequence. You looked troubled right before you plowed into me, so I'm thinking a nice coffee or other such warm drink might, uh, _un_trouble you." He smiled gently at her.

_He has such a very nice smile. And eyes. Dark and smouldering yet gentle. And a handsome face with nice, smooth cheekbones and dark curly hair. He's so _refined_! No one at the mansion is this awesome! I wonder how old he is. He's probably dating. Chivalrous_.

When Ronan stopped walking and stared expectantly at her, Mina realized she had been ignoring his last statement in place of her thoughts. She smiled apologetically and thanked him.

"No thanks needed," he exclaimed buoyantly. "I, after all, also ran into you. The beverage of your choice shall be on me. No questions asked," he added after she started to protest.

They rounded the corner of the street and found themselves at the entrance to a quaint, little coffee shop. Smiling his brilliant smile, Ronan opened the door for Mina and waved her inside, then took her coat for her. They sat down at a little table and drank their coffee in rapt conversation.

* * *

Silence looked up from her homework as Mina very nearly waltzed into their room. Mina almost floated down onto her bed with an enormously pleased smile plastered across her face. Silence frowned. "What's got you all twitterpated?"

"I got a phone number!" she squealed, waving a piece of paper rapidly in front of Mina's face.

"So do I." Silence pointed, face impassive, at the telephone they shared between their beds. "So what?"

"_No!_ I got a _guy's_ phone number! I bumped into him on the street and he insisted on buying me coffee to apologise at this adorable little coffee shop and we had an amazing time! He seemed so interested in me!" Mina spat all this out in about five seconds, leaving Silence momentarily dazed.

Snapping back to reality, shaking her head clear, Silence asked, "Did you tell him about the mansion? Like, I know you probably told him you lived here, but did you tell him about it? About us?" Silence was, of course, asking if Mina told him that they were mutants.

"Oh, no, of course not, I'm not stupid. He didn't really ask much about that. He asked me about what I liked, what I didn't like, whether or not I thought he looked good in green cashmere. He was wearing a green cashmere sweater – very _chique_. Anyways, we got on really well. He gave me his number and told me to call him back so we could get together again. Isn't it awesome?"

Silence paused, then replied. "Well, maybe. Is he hot?"

"Well, duh!"

Silence broke into a grin. "Then yeah, totally awesome!"

* * *

Silence was sitting beside John on a couch in the TV room watching a cartoon they used to watch when they were both kids. John, however, was distracted. He hated being distracted. Especially when he was being distracted by _her._ _Damn her. Damn Mina. Damn you for being so distracting, so damn hot. So damn confusing._ He had never gotten over her shunning him. He didn't understand why she did it. One moment, she was all friendly with him, swinging off doorframes, the next moment she was staring at him like she'd seen a ghost and then forevermore ignoring him, excepting a few well delivered glare's and snide remarks about his apparently rash actions. He, however, had not gotten over his earlier feelings about her. Unfortunately, he still didn't know what they entailed. He was sure attraction figured into them somewhere, because there was no denying he found her enjoyable to look at, but how, he wondered, could he still be so interested in her when she clearly didn't want him? There must be something else to it. That had to be it.

"John? Hello! Earth to John! You're zoning again." Silence was poking him in the ribcage.

"Huh? Wha? Sorry. What?"

"I was just telling you, Mina's got a boyfriend. He's not a mutant. Kinda bizarre, dontcha think? Especially coming from her. She's normally terrified of _homo sapiens_."

John had frozen in place. _A boyfriend? What? Why?_ He leapt up, overturning several disgruntled pillows. Silence, too, seemed disgruntled.

"What's _your_ problem, hotshot? Jealous that she got a snuggle buddy before you did? Ha! I knew it would happen. You're just all talk, after all."

"Shut up Silence."

"Or else what? You'll flame me?" Silence laughed derisively.

"Stuff it up your ass." With that, John stormed out of the room.

Mina, having noticed the ruckus, plopped onto the couch beside Silence in John's wake. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, poor ickle Johnny's just jealous, that's all," Silence mused.

"Jealous of what?"

"Oh, probably just of you getting a boyfriend before he got a girlfriend."

"Really? That's pretty stupid. Then again, he is a boy." Mina snorted. "Well, I'm going off to bed, I've got a Danger Room session with Scott tomorrow, I need my sleep."

Silence sat on the couch for a time after Mina left, flicking through random television channels, contemplating John's strange reaction. _Sure, he's hot-headed. I just didn't think he was _that_ hot-headed. Unless… No, that can't be it. He'd have gone after her by now. He always goes after what he wants until he gets it. He can't possibly be jealous of Mina's guy. That's _so _not John._ However, Silence could not be sure. John sometimes surprised her. _Sometimes?_ Silence smirked. _Rarely._

Then again, she thought, love _is_ a rare thing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I dis-claim any ownership of Marvel stuff.

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 10**

The sun was setting. The light from the windows was dimming to a warm orange, the students were sparser in the halls, and the clock read a solid 9 o'clock. John could tell – the sun was setting.

He flicked his customized Zippo lighter open and closed, open and closed, open and closed – a restless habit of his. Silence had just finished shouting at him, but that was normal. What had him all anxious was the absence of Mina. She had left, telling only Silence where she was going, and she hadn't come back yet. It was getting dark. John was worried, so he was wandering.

He had just reached the front door when it was flung open by a giggling girl who entered, followed by a giggling man. John stopped in his tracks. _Mina…_ The flicking of his lighter ceased.

Mina, too, stopped dead at the sight of him. Her giggling stopped, followed by the end of the man's giggles as well. She snatched up the hand of the man and arranged her face into a snarl.

"What're _you_ staring at, John?" she spat at him.

It took him a while to formulate a response, seeing as his mind had erupted into what he later registered as extreme jealousy. He was incensed to see _her_, the girl that so confounded his emotions, with another man. _A human at that…_

"The question is," he finally drawled, "what are _you_ doing bringing someone like him in _here_? You know it's not allowed."

"He's just seeing me in. You know, being nice. Oh, wait, I forgot, you don't know what being nice _is_," Mina shot back. Turning, she addressed her boyfriend. At least, John assumed the man was her boyfriend. "See you later, Ron. I'll call when I get a chance." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the check, gave him a quick hug, then waved him out.

After Ron was out and the door was shut, John rounded on Mina. "So, does he know you're a mutant?" he asked simply.

"Does it matter? If he likes me, he should like me whether or not I'm a mutant." Mina crossed her arms across her chest defensively.

"Does he know? I'm asking a simple question. You can just give me a simple answer."

"Why do you care if he knows or not? He's not _your_ boyfriend." Mina tried walking past him, but John grabbed her arm and held her firmly in place.

John knew why he cared. He didn't want her to get hurt. But he couldn't tell her that. She hated him; he'd just be hurting himself to tell her that. So he made something up.

He pulled her closer. "I care," he breathed, "because if he finds out and happens to be terrified of us, you've just shown him where we all live. He could fuck us over Mina. He could fuck _you_ over. I'm worried about the rest of us."

Mina gave him a curious look. She seemed taken aback. A clouded look came over her eyes and she wrenched her arm out of his grasp and pushed past him.

"I can take care of myself, thanks," she called back at him. "And even if he did find out I was a mutant," she stopped and turned to face him, "he wouldn't know the rest of you were mutants too. So you can stop pretending to care about them and get over it." She continued on down the hall.

John watched her leave, pondering her response. _Did she really see through that excuse so easily? Am I _that_ transparent? No… she probably just thinks I don't like her to enjoy herself or something… yeah…_

Confident that he had avoided detection – because he'd be thoroughly embarrassed if she found out what he actually felt about her – he headed off to his dorm to think up ways to make her break up with _Ron_. He didn't want to have to think about him with her. Being with her. Staring into her blue eyes. Running his fingers through her hair.

* * *

Mina made her way up to her room and was happy to discover that Silence wasn't in it. She needed some time alone to think. She had just had one of the best nights of her life. Ron had asked her out. Not just out to a coffee shop though. No, he wanted to be her boyfriend. She had agreed. That made her incredibly happy. Elated even. But then she gets home and John said… _John said _that.He actually cared about what happened to her. It had caught her totally by surprise. She couldn't think of any occasion previously where he had shown the slightest inclination to care. Except for when she had first met him. _But… it shouldn't matter that he cares, because I don't care about him. I care about Ron._

So then why did it seem like she _regretted_ being in a relationship with someone else? John was always rude, always disrespectful to her. _Except for that one time…_ When had he started being that way? She thought for a while. _After I started ignoring him. He had seemed rather confused. I never told him why either. He was probably hurt._

Mina was disconcerted. She felt bad that she had initiated these bad feelings, but she _had_ done it for a reason. He had scared her. But, now, he didn't seem to pose any more threat to her than her bedside lamp. Still, there wasn't anything she could do about it now. Sure, she could apologise, but she seriously doubted that it would be enough. She had spent a good three years being mean to him; she didn't think a simple 'I'm sorry' would suffice.

Even if she did apologise, what would happen? He would think that she was interested in him. Which she wasn't. She was pretty sure. She was interested in Ron, not John. The end.

Satisfied with her conclusion, she threw on her pyjamas and flopped into bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

* * *

A/N: So, yeah, short chapter. I just wanted to establish some tension in the relationships before I did anything else. It's hard to do. Awkward to write (kind of like the word awkward. Doesn't it just look strange?). Mina feels guilty. Also hard to write. She feels guilty, but she also feels like she made the right decision, her being paranoid of being hurt and all by the people close to her. In case it was unclear (which I'm pretty sure it is), she now remembers what happened, generally, the night she came to the mansion. She doesn't know exact details, but she knows that she killed them. She doesn't know how, she just knows she did. I'm fairly positive that I hadn't explained that before, and it doesn't really fit into the story at this point anymore, so in case it popped up again, there it is. The explaination. Huzzah.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I do not own X-Men. I do not own Silence Allerdyce. I own Mina and Ron and anything else that isn't X-Men or Silence Allerdyce.

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 11**

Mina had her mittened hand firmly wrapped around Ron's gloved one. They were walking down Greymalkin Lane in the early spring and it was still chilly. Despite the chill, it was a beautiful day. The leaves were starting to poke tentatively out of their buds and flowers were starting to blossom in the gardens of the estates. Ron had called Mina to take her out to enjoy it all.

They had been dating since winter and were quite happy together. Ron continued to be a gentleman and Mina continued to charm him with her fiendish glee.

Ron stopped their stroll in front of a large abandoned estate to better talk to Mina. "So, my dear, how's school going for you?"

"Oh, fine, we're pretty busy though", she answered, distracted. She knew the house they had stopped in front of – it used to be hers. She had avoided it since the day of the "accident" and didn't feel all that comfortable stopping in front of it.

"Anything I can help with? I'm fairly good at academics, you know," Ron offered. He noticed her fixated gaze and looked in the same direction as her. "Is something the matter with that house? You seem to be staring at it quite intently."

Mina shook her head and turned it to face him instead. "No, it just seemed familiar, that's all."

"I'm sure it does. It was in the news three years ago quite a lot. A whole family was murdered there, apparently by wild animals, which they never found. No one's lived in it since; they think it's cursed or that the animals will come back for the next residents."

"Huh. Fancy me living so close and not making the connection… I think I should go back to the mansion. I've got a lot of homework I have to do." She grabbed Ron's hand again and pulled him towards the mansion.

"Mina, are you sure you don't know anything else about that place? You certainly seemed shaken up by it." Ron looked at her questioningly, but didn't seem to suspect anything.

"No, I don't know anything. I just don't really fancy the idea of being killed by a bunch of rabid animals, that's all," she shot back at him.

The pair walked in silence for a minute or two. Finally, Mina broke the awkward silence. "Ron, what do you think of mutants?"

"Mutants?"

"Yeah, mutants. What do you think about them?"

"I don't know really… They make me a tad uncomfortable to tell the truth. I have nothing against the poor souls, but I find it unsettling that someone could read my mind without me even knowing or shoot laser beams out of their eyes, don't you?" he answered nonchalantly.

"I dunno…" she answered dejectedly.

Ron pulled them gently to a stop and looked in her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

Mina held his gaze for a moment, but had to look away. "I'm not sure, I just wondered. Curious, you know? Let's just go." She started them walking again.

The rest of the way back to the mansion was made in silence. When they got there, Mina gave Ron a hug, apologised for being so shaken by the house, then she went inside, saying goodbye to Ron.

She was irked. She was upset. She was shaken by Ron's attitude towards people like her. On top of that, she kept thinking of what John had told her: _"If he finds out and happens to be terrified of you, you've just shown us where we all live. He could fuck us over, Mina. He could fuck _you_ over"_. That didn't make matters any better. If there was one thing Mina couldn't stand, it was John being right about something important to her.

_Well… I'll just have to make sure Ron doesn't find out. How could he? It's not like I change without thinking about it. He'll never know._

* * *

"John! Watch where you're firing that stuff! You almost got me!"

Silence and John were in the Danger Room, training. Training for what, neither of them knew, but it was good exercise, and it was a good outlet for them to let out their frustration of each other on each other.

"Silence, you can make fire. It's not like any of it can hurt you." John yelled at her. They were on a mission to reach the end of a holo-maze, while avoiding robots and obstacles. More often than not, then ended up just blowing holes in the wall instead of actually doing the maze properly, but today they had promised each other to do it right – hopefully.

Dodging a flying robot, Silence pulled up beside John. "So, what's with you?"

John stopped mid-flame-throw. "What d'you mean? Nothing's _with_ me."

"Sure there is. Mina's _with _you."

John scoffed, dodging a laser beam. "No she's not, she's with Ron. Duh."

"Exactly. That's what's with you. I just wanted to hear you say it." She grinned deviously and vaulted over the wall obstacle in front of them. John paused to stare at the wall with his jaw slightly dropped and then followed her.

"Why would you say that? I don't even like her."

"Sure you do. You like her a lot. That's why you act like you don't. To protect yourself from getting hurt."

"Wrong. If I was protecting myself from getting hurt, there'd be fire involved. It's what I do, remember?"

"Oh, believe me, I remember." Silence paused to look at him. "John, you're so naïve when it comes to emotions. She's never going to like you back if you don't do something about it. Ron makes her happy. He just doesn't make her happy enough, in my opinion. She'll never be happy if she can't tell him what she is, and she's not going to. She's afraid to. Did she ever tell you why she ended up here?"

John frowned. "No, she never did."

"I didn't think so. She told me. The last people who knew about her mutation tried to kill her, so I don't think she'll be too keen to tell Ron and risk the same thing. No chance of that at all. So, you know what? You have to get her to realise that you're not all that bad. I think she already does know, deep down inside, but you have to remind her. Remind her good."

John ducked under a volley of rockets shot by a robot blocking their path and flicked open his lighter. "And how exactly am I going to do that? And how exactly did you know I liked her?" He sent a jet of flame at the robot, blowing it into pieces.

Silence laughed. "As for the first question, no idea. As for the second, it's obvious to anyone that's not Mina, apparently. You act totally jealous every time you see Ron or hear mention of Ron, and you always stare at her when you think no one's looking. You've got a _huge_ crush on her. Get on it, bro, get on it." She snarled as five saucers flew at them, firing lasers.

"Oh, fuck this," John roared as he blew them up. He turned to the holo-wall, his lighter ready. Silence grinned at him and a blossom of flame erupted from her hand. Together, they blew apart the wall and exited the maze together.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything Marvel own.

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 12**

"Mina! Slow down! Just because you're on a rampage doesn't mean I am too. Calm. Down." Silence was hurrying down the hall of the mansion after Mina, who was on a tyrade.

"But, seriously!" Mina continued, clearly not paying any attention whatsoever to what Silence had just said, "Why is he all of a sudden being nice to me? It makes no sense at all! Like, seriously! I didn't do anything different to him and he suddenly doesn't hate me. Seriously! I still hate him."

"Do you?"

"OF COURSE I DO! Just because he's _acting_ all nicety-nice right now doesn't mean he's not still Mr. McJerkface underneath. He's just trying to trick me into thinking he's nice. It's unnerving."

"Whatever." Silence rolled her eyes knowingly, plodding after Mina.

"Anyways, Ron's meeting me at the front door, I have to go. See you later." Mina sped up to a run and waved back at Silence.

* * *

When Mina reached the front doors of the mansion, she found Ron already standing at the open doors. She was dismayed to find John standing at them as well, standing, watching Ron.

She looked briefly at her watch, and then ran over to the doors. Giving John the meanest glare she could muster, she hip-checked him out of the way and grinned at Ron.

"We'd better get going. Most classes are getting out very soon, and we don't want to get mobbed by the little--" The sound of a harsh bell cut her off and the halls were almost immediately swamped with happy, chattering children.

Mina attempted to grab Ron's arm and steer him away from the door, but to no avail. He was rooted to the spot, mouth hanging agape. Mina turned to follow his gaze and was horrified to find him staring at a boy levitating several paper airplanes in front of him.

Eyes wide, mouth still open, Ron pointed at the floating objects. "Mina…. What--"

Immediately and full of purpose, Mina gave Ron a hearty shove out the door and down the lane. "That was nothing. There was nothing. I don't know what you're talking about!" she spouted, sounding slightly frantic.

"No… really, I think I just saw a boy… levitating airplanes…" Ron was walking, but his eyes were still wide, and he was still pointing at the now-not-there-anymore boy.

"There weren't any levitating airplanes. There were _flying_ paper airplanes, but none of them were being levitated. You're seeing things. How tired are you?" Mina placed her hand on Ron's forehead. "Are you feeling alright? You seem kind of warm to me." She grinned a frantic grin at him.

"No… I'm not tired… I feel fine… There were floating airplanes… That John guy _told_ me I shouldn't have come…" Ron walked on, dazed.

Mina stopped dead in her tracks. _John… I am going to kill you. You have NO idea!_ She ran in front of Ron and placed her hands on his shoulders, halting him. "THERE ARE NO FLOATING, LEVITATING AIRPLANES! THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE! YOU'RE _HALLUCINATING!_ Got it?"

"No." Ron stared blankly at her for a moment, but than a small glimmer of understanding appeared in his eyes. "Is he a… mutant? Does that mean--" His eyes widened and his random pointing finger redirected itself at Mina's nose and his expression became angered. "Have you been lyi--"

Mina backed up a step, eyes wide. Doing some very quick thinking, interrupting him, she said, "YouknowIthinkIlefttheovenonandIvegotsomehomeworktodoandIpromisedSilenceIdexercisewithhersoIreallythinkIshouldgookaybye!" and ran hell-bent back into the mansion, slamming the door behind her, leaving Ron standing in the lane.

She leaned against the cool wooden mahogany of the door, eyes shut, breathing hard. _He's never going to want to see me again. He knows. He wasn't supposed to find out. I was supposed to be happy with him. Oh, Ron… I'm never going to see him again. He hates me now, I could see it…_ She slid slowly down the door until she was sitting against it. She pressed her face into her knees and started silently crying to herself. She had lost her faith in humanity.

* * *

John walked back into the front hallway. Silence was still sitting beside Mina, who had not moved or said anything for an hour after her flight back into the mansion. He walked quietly over to the pair and looked down at them.

Silence glared up at him. "What did you do, _St. John_?"

He ignored the quip. "Nothing." He shrugged. "I should take her to her room, she should be sitting here where everyone can see her. She'd be embarrassed."

Silence scowled, but got up. She acted out an extremely exaggerated bow, and said, "Be my guest."

Saying nothing, John kneeled down and picked Mina up, cradling her in his arms. She was surprisingly light. _Just like the last time I carried her to safety…_ Mina grabbed on to the front of John's shirt, burying her face in it – the only acknowledgement Mina gave that she had just been picked up.

John carried her up to her room and placed her on her bed, then sat down beside her. After a minute or two, she started visibly crying. John said nothing, waiting for her to finish. He knew he couldn't properly comfort her, like he so wanted to, she still didn't trust him enough to let him. So he sat beside her, just a presence, a presence he knew she must need.

Her sniffles ceased and she sat up, looking at him blankly.

"Mina, what happened," he asked her quietly, extending his arm to rub her shoulder.

She brushed it off angrily and her face turned livid.

"_You're_ what happened, obviously," she snarled.

John was taken aback. He certainly had not expected this reaction, since he hadn't actually done anything this time. He had let Ron in the mansion, but that was all. He hadn't said anything to him except that he should have come a bit later since Mina was probably still in class. After that he had said nothing at all.

"Mina, I didn't do anything, honestly. I don't understand."

"Oh, right, whatever. Sure you don't. You only told him he shouldn't have come here. Nice thing to say, putting thoughts like that in his head. Not to mention, you've been setting me up for something all month, acting all nice. I knew there was something up with that." She got up and started pacing the room, fuming. "You've always had it out for Ron. Now why's that, I wonder?"

"Mina, I didn't have it out for him! I just didn't want you to get hurt. Mina, I--"

"Oh, sure! You didn't want me to get hurt! Likely story." She stopped her pacing at the window. "You just didn't want me to be happy! You never have. You've been an absolute jerk to me from day one!"

"Mina, that's not true. I was nice to you until you freaked out after the first Danger Room session. I showed you the kitchen, remember?"

"Oh no! One time! That makes all the other times so much better!" She crossed her arms across her chest. "You were probably figuring out how best to be mean to me that _one_ time," she snarled at him.

"No, Mina! That's not it at all. I care about you Mina. I don't know what I did to scare you so much, but it hurt me when you snapped at me. I don't understand it, I don't know why, but it hurt me. I'm not very good at dealing with that sort of thing. I never meant to be so awful, Mina, really. Look, I'm sorry, I am. Please…"

"Don't give me that," she spat. "You don't deserve forgiveness, even if you are a _saint_. All you ever do is for yourself. You think that just because you like me, just because you're sorry, I'm going to forgive you, just like that? You're wrong. What have you ever done for me, anyway? Oh, that's right, _nothing_!"

That stung John. He cared about Mina, he truly cared. He realized that now, even if he couldn't before. He _had_ done something for her.

"That's not true. Remember waking up here, your first day here? Ever wonder how you got there? It was me. I brought you. I brought your sad, little bleeding form out from the woods into here. Not because I thought I'd get something out of it, but because I cared. So don't give me that 'what have you ever done for me' crap, Mina, because I have done something! You wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for me!"

Mina went perfectly still. John could see the cogs turning in her mind, but what they were working out, he had no idea. Then suddenly, and without warning, a hulking form crashed into him, knocking the breath out of him and pushing him violently to the ground. Mina was no longer at the window; a huge Burmese tiger was standing over him, breathing heavily.

It emitted a low, threatening growl at him, showing it's huge white canines. The tiger morphed back into Mina, who then got up off of him. She walked over to the window and stood perfectly still in front of it, staring out at the grounds.

"Out. Now."

John didn't need to be told twice.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I do not own X-Men. Marvel does.

_**

* * *

**_

Beautiful Liar  
_Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 13**

Mina was shaken. She hadn't lost control like that since the incident with her parents. She had thought that she had gotten control since then, but what had just happened, with John, had given her doubts. She needed to get it back under control. She needed to remind herself just why she had gotten control in the first place. She clenched her fists and took a deep breath. She knew what it was that she had to do.

"Mina?"

Mina turned her head to see Silence peeking in the doorway. She turned back. "What?" she asked quietly.

"What's up? You've got me all freaked out." Silence walked in and sat on her bed.

"It's nothing." Mina turned and started towards the door. "I have to go."

"Go where?" Silence got up and started to follow.

Mina ignored the question. She couldn't let herself get distracted, or she'd talk herself out of it. And she knew she couldn't do that. If she could lose control as easily as she had, she knew she needed a good reminder, as much as she didn't want to go back. Sensing Silence still following her, Mina transformed into a silver fox and ran down the hall and out of the mansion.

* * *

The house looked run down, not at all like Mina remembered it being when she lived there. The windows were boarded up, and the gardens were overgrown with weeds. There seemed to be a sinister feeling seeping through everything on the property. Mina shuddered, thinking to herself that it hadn't seemed this foreboding when she had stopped in front of it with Ron. She looked around to check that no one was around, then transformed into a nightingale and flew over the fence and into the yard.

She wanted to go through it all again in her head, the whole incident. She wanted to know exactly when she lost control, when she gained it back again, and why. She was going to do this logically and systematically to come up with valid reasons so she could make valid decisions to control herself.

She walked to the back of the house and to the woods, where it had started. The trees were taller and much more frightening than before. It seemed as if there were shadows flitting about in them, just waiting to fly out and catch her. She turned away from them. She walked over to the spot where she had last seen her sister. A small patch of dandelions had sprouted and thrived in the spot where she had fallen. Mina found this ironic. _Amber always was such a weed…_

Mina looked up at one of the top floor windows, visualizing in her head the spot where her mother had stood, wielding a shotgun at her. Leaping up, she transformed mid-air into a nightingale once and again and flew through the window. Changing back, she thought she heard a soft shuffling sound from the yard, but when she turned back to look, there was nothing there. _I must be more spooked than I thought I was_. Walking over to the spot where her mother had died, she knelt down to look at the floor. There was a small, dark red spot in the carpet that the cleaners hadn't been able to remove. Rising, Mina wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. _This is why I have to keep control. This is why—_

Her thoughts were cut short by an obvious crash behind her. She spun around, alert. _Who would be here? It's abandoned. Not even the teenagers are brave enough to come in here for fear of the "wild animals"…_ _This is getting creepy; I'm getting out of here before something nasty happens._

Hearing loud footsteps coming from the stairs, she turned to leap out the window, but was stopped by a large, uniformed figure climbing through it, followed by several others. They were all carrying large guns. Thinking fast, she transformed into a fox and bounded towards the nearest bedroom, but once again brought up short by a group of men in uniform. Starting to panic, she turned towards the next room but was dismayed to find it covered as well. Running out of options, she turned towards the stairs but, as she expected, these were also covered. She was surrounded.

The men started advancing on her, forming a circle. Mina was starting to feel animalistic again, panicked, afraid, angry. _No! I have to control it! I can get out of her without it! I have to!_ She started turning a repetitive circle, looking for options, for a way out. She growled deep in her throat to see the reaction of the uniformed men, but none of them even flinched. A few of them even laughed.

A disembodied voice echoed from behind the wall of men surrounding her. "Easy now, bring her in. Nice and easy though, we need this one alive." The men tightened their circle. One of them lunged at her, and she split into two foxes, narrowly avoiding him. She immediately reverted back into one, dodging another lunge.

Now in a full panic, she transformed into a swarm of hornets and made a break for the window. A single shot from a gun, a laser gun, beat her to it, cutting a hole right through the middle of her swarm, killing little tiny bits of herself. In shock and pain, she transformed back to human and fell to the floor, screaming in pain. She felt herself being hit with a dart from a tranquilizer gun.

She clutched at her arm, feeling blood starting to run down it. The gun had cut a deep gash in her arm, and she could already feel herself going faint from blood loss. A small, ironic voice in the back of her head was telling her that she should have eaten more for breakfast. Her vision started to blur

The sea of men in front of her parted. A man in a suit, whom she assumed to be their leader, walked through to the front. A teenage boy was walking behind him. She couldn't clearly make out what either of them looked like.

"Is this the one, son?" The suited man asked the boy, pointing at her.

The boy moved forward slightly, looked at her, and responded, "Yes, father, this is the one. She's a nasty little liar, too."

_That voice, I know that voice. Why can't I tell what it is?_ She could feel her eyes drooping from the tranquilizer. She knew she ought to be panicking, but it was all she could do to stay conscious.

The teenager moved up to her and knelt down, so she could see him. "This is what you get, Mina, for lying to me. You should have known, after all the time we spent together, that I despised liars. Now my father's got you. I never did tell you what he did, did I? Well, he does research on mutants. I hope you have fun. You deserve it." He got up and walked out of the room, leaving Mina at the mercy of the mob.

Mina recognized him now. Recognized his face, recognized his smell, his eyes. It was Ron. And he had betrayed her, just like John had warned her he would.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I do not own X-Men. Marvel does.

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 14**

Silence was getting antsy. It was already dark outside, and Mina hadn't come back yet. Mina was _always_ back by dark, unless she was on a date with Ron, and Silence was positive that Mina was not on a date with Ron. It was unlikely Mina would ever mention Ron again. She had a tendency, Silence knew, to ignore the things that had hurt her. Like how she ignored John and like how she constantly ignored the fact that her parents had tried to kill her. That whole incident had surely left its scars, but Mina consistently pretended that they had never happened. So Silence was fairly sure that Ron's name would never ever be brought up again by Mina. So where was she?

Silence had been trolling the halls for an hour looking for Mina, to no avail. She even asked John if he'd seen her, since he had taken to stalking her around the mansion for the past week or two, but even he had not seen her. "Not that I'd want to be around her at the moment anyway, the last time she saw me she nearly bit my head off. Literally," he'd told her. This normally would have amused Silence, but combined with her earlier behaviour in their room, it was cause for more worry. Mina never exploded like that.

So Silence did the only other thing she could think of. She went to talk to Jean. Not that she wanted to. She hated asking for help.

She found Jean sitting in her office pouring over a book about bone-setting. _Boring!_ "Jean," she interrupted, "I can't find Mina, and neither can John, and we've both been trying to follow her around. She's been gone for_ev_er." She stuck her hip out, stuck her fists on them defiantly, and waited for Jean to come up with a solution.

Luckily, Jean had one almost immediately. "I'll go talk to Professor Xavier. You go do your homework." Jean closed her book and stood up in one fluid, graceful motion.

Silence grumbled something about starting her homework as soon as she got back to her room and made a show of being especially grumpy as she trundled out of the room. As soon as she was out the door, she leapt around the corner and pressed her back against it, listening carefully for the sound of Jean leaving the room. As soon as she was convinced Jean was a suitable distance away for Silence to not be heard, Silence crept after her. There was no way Silence was going to be left out of the loop on this one. Mina was her best friend, and Silence deserved to know where her best friend was, as far as she was concerned.

Silence followed Jean to the sub-basement, where she assumed Jean knew Charles Xavier, the world's most powerful telepath, to be. She took the emergency stairway down to the basement, knowing that both Jean and the Professor would hear the elevator doors opening and closing again when Silence got out of them, and then her cover would be blown. Not exactly what Silence had in mind.

Once in the sub-basement, a purely sterile looking floor, Silence found a nice little alcove to hide out in to avoid detection while in order to listen in on the conversation happening in Cerebro.

* * *

"Professor, Silence is worried – she can't find Mina anywhere."

Professor Charles Xavier smiled benignly. "Well then, I guess we'll just have to find her ourselves then." He wheeled his chair around to face the centre of Cerebro and placed the silver headpiece on his head. Jean had enough sense and experience to keep perfectly still during this exercise, so she had adopted a comfortable stance behind and to the left of Charles' chair.

Mentally willing the doors behind him to close, Charles extended his mind into the workings of Cerebro, bringing the powerful machine to life. When he normally had spectators on this feat, he would cause the machine to project a globe-like image with the people and mutants of the world represented on it, which he then narrowed down to just showing the mutants, then the specific dot of the mutant he was focusing on, and then the mutant itself. This usually impressed whoever was watching. However, since Jean had witnessed this so many times before, and because she could, he merely allowed her a space inside his own mind to watch what he was doing.

A moment later, he removed his helmet, perplexed. Jean was as well. They hadn't been able to find the small shape-shifting mutant anywhere. Xavier was convinced that he would have felt it if she had died because of the bond he had created with her sense of self when she arrived, bringing her mind back from the oblivion it had tried to hide itself in, so he knew she wasn't dead. But where, then, was she?

Jean was equally confused. "She can't simply have dropped off the face of the earth," she postulated aloud.

"No," Charles agreed, "most assuredly not." Knowing that his school was too full for no one to have seen Mina leave, no matter what her form, he gently probed the mind of the children of his school for any sign of Mina. He could find her signature, even if the subject hadn't known that they were looking at her.

After a few minutes of delicate work – he didn't want to invade on anything else of the students' day, just what was necessary – he sighed. "Mina left in a hurry out the front door about two hours ago."

"Where would she have gone?" Jean queried.

"I don't know, Jean. Who can say?"

Silence chose this moment to join the conversation. She had been listening intently and knew immediately where her friend had gone. She knew Mina hated being out of control, and she knew instinctively what she would have done about it.

"She's gone to her old house," she said matter-of-factly, striding confidently into the big, round room.

Professor X's and Jean's heads whipped around at the sudden intrusion. They had been so lost in their own thoughts that they hadn't even noticed the presence of Silence.

Jean looked sceptical. "What makes you think she's there, Silence?"

Silence lifted her shoulder in a shrug. "I dunno, I _just know_." She adopted her defiant stance again, daring them to contradict her intuitive knowledge. She was sure that they would. After all, what kind of excuse was 'I just know' anyways? Not a very good one.

However, surprisingly, they accepted it. They told her that they would go to the house and find her as soon as they informed Scott and Storm about the situation.

"I'm coming too," Silence stated, nonchalant. At this, Jean balked. Before she got a chance to protest, Silence continued: "I'm her best friend, and I'm _good_. When we find Mina, she'll probably be totally freaked, since it must be something awful to make her signature disappear from your perception, Prof, and she'll want a friend. No offence, but none of you are exactly her friend. I'm coming. And so's John. He'll feel stupid and useless if you don't bring him; he's crazy about her. He may do something stupid if you don't bring him." Finishing her little spiel, Silence smiled broadly, proud of herself.

"Oh, I suppose," Jean conceded. "But the moment something comes up that we don't think you can handle, you're to head back to a safe place. Do _not_ come back here though – if it's that dangerous, we don't want it anywhere near the children. Go tell John. Meet back here in fifteen minutes, understood?"

Silence nodded and then bounded upstairs to find John. After Silence told him everything that the Professor and Jean had said, he dropped what he was doing and ran down to the sub-basement, Silence running a foot behind him. They made it back to the sub-basement before even Storm or Cyclops had shown up.

Jean came back, Scott and Ororo trailing behind her, and noticed the anxious looks on Silence's and John's faces.

"Don't worry," she told the two teens assuredly, "we'll get her back. We're the X-Men, remember?" The team all looked at each other, making sure the looks on the other members' faces was just as determined as their own, then left for their mission.

They had no idea what was in store for them, but they knew they would deal with it, whatever it was; they were going to get Mina back – safe.

* * *

**A/N:** So, personally, I don't particularly like the last three or so paragraphs of this, but I had to come up with a way to end the chapter there, so I opted for cheese (FYI, I don't like cheese). If I had continued with more of Mina's story, it would'vee been too long. So you get cheese... suckas!!! 


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I do not own X-Men. Marvel does (as do all their affiliates and whatever).

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 15**

Mina woke slowly to a major headache. She groaned and slowly blinked her eyes open. She shut them immediately as she was blinded by bright lights directly above her. She tried to move her arms to her face to rub her eyes, but found that she couldn't. In fact, she couldn't move anything at all except her head. _What the fuck…_

She opened her eyes again, slowly this time, and took a look around. She was strapped to a metal bed in a very metallic room. There were harsh looking instruments surrounding her, attached to monitors all around the room. Mina tilted her head upwards to get a better look at the door and saw two heavily armed guards standing in front of it. She sighed deeply and rested her head back against the metal slab.

She had absolutely no idea where she was. She had absolutely no idea how she had gotten there. All she knew was that it was Ron's fault, and that she'd be lucky if the mansion hadn't been attacked yet. If it did, though, Ron's father's group of goons would be hurting. If Mina hadn't been caught by surprise, she could have taken her captors instead of them taking her, so they stood no chance against a group of trained mutants and a whole school of kids with powers they didn't even know the limits of yet. So now all Mina had to do was to escape back there.

She scanned the room, searching for any means at all of escape. There were no windows except for the ones being guarded by the doors, so there was no way to escape that way. The door was probably locked from the outside, and based on the amount of sophisticated technology in the room she was in, there were bound to be motion sensors by the door. _No need to risk getting shot again._ She spotted a small air vent by the ceiling. _Perfect. All I need to do is to fly up there, and PRESTO, escape route_.

The moment she started to transform, however, the bonds around her wrists, midsection, and ankle sent an electric jolt through her powerful enough to stop her morphing. She let out a scream of pain and took a second look at her restraints. They were hooked up to wires that went to a large generator sitting just beside the table she was on. _Great. Now what?_ She tried to pull up slightly with her right arm, tugging at her shackle, evoking a sharp pain that lanced up her arm to her shoulder. Suppressing a yelp, she was shocked to see a small stream of blood dripping down from the shackle. _Shit. They've got these things _implanted_ in me. Even if I do get them off, if I don't get help quick, I'm gonna bleed to death. Shit._

At that moment, the man who had claimed to be Ron's father stepped through the doors at the far end of the room, the doors air locking shut behind him. He walked over to the table beside Mina's head and looked down through horn-rimmed glasses at her. A smirk played at the corners of his mouth.

"Well, well, well, what have we here? A little trapped, are we?" He gave her shackle a sharp jerk, a grin breaking out across his face at her gasp of pain. "Hurts, doesn't it? As you've probably guessed, that's so you don't _escape_." He pulled over a wheeled chair, sat on it, and leaned even further over Mina's face.

"Why are you doing this?" Mina whispered, terrified. She was even more afraid of this man than she was of her own father.

"Why am I doing this?" He smiled serenely, as if he were privy to his own private joke. "I'm doing this because you betrayed my son. I don't take well to that. This was not his idea though; don't go blaming him. It was all mine. He has no idea what I'm going to do with you. He just wanted to see you scared. But now that I have you, and now that I know what you can do, little missy, you're going to do what I tell you. You're going to be our little weapon." He sat back a little, satisfied with himself.

Mina sucked in a breath through her teeth, clearly displeased. "What makes you think I'm just going to do what you tell me?"

"Because, if you don't do as I say, you'll get punished." The man flicked a switch on the generator attached to the restraints, sending jolts of energy into them. Mina shrieked, arching her back in pain, causing the restraints around her stomach to cut even deeper into her.

Satisfied with her suffering, the man turned the electricity off. "We've done thorough tests while you were unconscious, my dear, so we know the full potential of your mutation. You have the ability, I'm sure you know, to morph into any living creature, and can then produce multiples of yourself as this creature. Right so far?" Without waiting for Mina's acknowledgement, he continued on. "This includes the ability to change into another human or mutant. As far as our tests show, you've yet to do this, although it seems you've tried. Why is this?" This time, he did wait for a reply, peering over his glasses at her.

Mina ignored him, staring straight at the ceiling, blinking away tears. Without breaking his gaze, the man flicked the switch on the generator again. He flicked it off after a few seconds, and then waited for Mina's breathing to slow again before repeating his question.

"Why haven't you turned into another mutant yet? It would definitely prove useful."

Mina gritted her teeth. "It gives me a headache," she spat at him.

"A headache? Is that all? Well then, we can go through with our plan after all." He sat back in his chair and stared straight ahead at one of the monitors, lost in thought, chewing at the inside of his cheek. After about a minute, he leaned over her again. "I would like you, my dear, to turn into my dear son. If you don't," he gestured at the generator, "I think you know what will happen."

Mina glared at him. She knew what sort of pain she would go through if she transformed into another human, but she also knew what sort of pain she would go through if she didn't. She chose the lesser of two evils and changed into Ron. After about five seconds, she reverted, panting heavily at the enormous pain in her head.

"Now, Mina, that won't do at all. I didn't tell you to change back, did I?" He wiggled his finger disapprovingly at her face. Mina had the overwhelming urge to bite it. "Turn back, and stay that way until I tell you to stop, you understand?"

Mina snarled, gritted her teeth and transformed. The pain in her head was excruciating. It felt as if bits of her mind were being torn from her skull. She had never been morphed as another human being for this long before, not even for the testing she and Jean had done when Mina had arrived at the mansion. The pain was so immense that Mina was convinced that if she didn't transform back soon, her head was sure to explode. Her body was starting to shudder and twitch and her mind was starting to lose control. She could feel tiny fissures starting to form in the wall she had mentally placed over the part of herself she didn't ever want to see again. Yet she still didn't change back. She didn't want to give the man in the horn-rimmed glasses the satisfaction of seeing her fail.

Her last thought before passing out from the pain was that she wished she'd listened to John…

* * *

**A/N:** It's another fairly short one. There was going to be more, but it kinda ran outta steam. Horn-rimmed glasses symbolize evil, btw. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** I do not own X-Men. Marvel owns X-Men. Le gasp!

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 16**

The X-Men rounded the corner to Mina's old house at as close to a run as possible with Professor Xavier in tow, John in the lead. At the gate, the Professor called everyone to a halt.

"Now, don't go crashing through. Time is, of course, of the essence but we mustn't miss anything crucial to finding where Mina is. And she is not here, so banging around the place isn't going to help. Now, John, you will search with Jean, and Silence, you will search with Scott and me." Not pausing for any nods or indications of consent, the Professor wheeled his way through the gates towards the house.

John and Jean beat the rest to the front door. Jean slowly opened it and peered inside. The front foyer looked untouched except for a mass of boot prints leading up the wooden stairs to the second floor.

Jean called back at the Professor, "Charles, John and I will look upstairs, you and Silence and Scott can check the first floor." The Professor nodded, so John followed Jean up the staircase.

Jean stopped at the top of the stairs and motioned for John to do the same. For once, he listened to her. The view greeting them at the landing was telling a pretty obvious story. As far as John could see it, Mina had been surrounded – the boot prints formed a circle. _She had panicked and she had reacted._ There were tiny blood droplets littered among the boot prints along the inner edges of the circle. The larger pool of blood in the middle of the circle spoke just as plainly to John as the other evidence – _Mina had been hurt_. He pulled his lighter out of his pocket and began to fiddle with it, flicking it open, lighting it, and flicking it closed again, over and over. He walked carefully over to the pool of blood, leaving Jean to more closely ponder the scene from afar, and bent down to look at it. There were drag marks through the blood, moving towards the stairs, as well as footprints in the same direction. _So,_ _whoever did this followed her here, caught her by surprise, attacked her, and took her away. But where?_ John stood back up and walked back to where Jean was standing. Judging by the look on her face, she was asking herself the same question.

"So now what do we do?" he asked her.

"Well," Jean responded, weighing in her mind what she was going to say next, "we ask ourselves who might have wanted to hurt Mina. This obviously took some planning, and some patience. And whoever did it would have to have known her, otherwise how would they know to post people at her house?" She trailed off, continuing her reasoning in her head.

John jumped immediately to a conclusion. "Ron Erikson," he spat. "He's the only person she knew outside of the mansion that could have possibly known anything about her. Plus, he was mad at her. He had just found out she was a mutant. On top of that, I think he's enough of a dick to do something like this."

Jean tilted her head, surprised. "Erikson? There's an Erikson who owns a research facility not far from here in the countryside. Mina never told us Ron's last name; I never knew he was related to the Eriksons. They've never been good news for mutants. I think I know where to look next." With that, she headed downstairs to inform the Professor of what they'd learned.

* * *

Mina awoke to, again, a headache. _I'm getting really tired of fucking headaches._ She groggily opened her eyes to find that Ron was sitting beside her sad excuse for a bed. Blinking slowly, trying to clear her head, she asked, "What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home planning something, um, vengeful?"

Ron glowered. "No. I'm here to help you."

"Help me? It's your fault I'm here in the first place!"

"Yes, well, we all make mistakes."

"_Mistakes_? I'm being fucking tortured here and all you can do is to say that you made a bloody mistake?" Mina glared at him with the dirtiest, most evil look she could muster, under the circumstances.

"Mina, I'm sorry, I didn't know he was going to take you here. My father, I mean. I just asked him to, you know, scare you a little bit. I was upset and hurt and I didn't think it would cause you and lasting damage. I didn't want _this_… I never expected he'd do this to you. So I brought you some morphine." He raised a syringe and wiggled it around in the air half-heartedly.

Mina softened her gaze and relaxed. Ron took this as a sign that she acquiesced and injected her with the morphine shot.

As the drugs started to take effect and her senses began to once again fail, Mina whispered to Ron, "Get out of here. Go home. If your father accomplishes what I think he wants to accomplish, I won't be safe. I don't want you to get hurt either. I never did… Please, go home."

Ron waited until she was fully asleep again to leave. He gave her hand one final squeeze, then heeded her advice and headed towards home. He didn't know what her mutation was or what it was capable of, but he didn't really want to stick around to find out.

* * *

"Excuse me; we'd like to speak to Luther Erikson. It's very important."

John stood leaning against a pillar and the vast reception area of Erikson Enterprises. He didn't see why the Prof didn't just freeze everyone or whatever he did so that they could just walk in and take Mina back. He didn't understand why everyone was being so _calm_ about the whole situation.

"We're sorry, but Mr. Erikson is in a meeting right now. Can I take a message for him and give it to him when he's finished?" The receptionist smiled benignly.

Professor Xavier smiled just as benignly back at her and replied, "No, thank you. We'll just wait here for him if you don't mind." The reception inclined her head in a curt response and Professor Xavier propelled his wheelchair back to the rest of the group.

The Professor spoke quietly, but with firm authority. "He's not in a meeting and our friend at the desk knows it. However, I still cannot sense where Mina is. Erikson Enterprises is the only company I can possibly think of that would have the technology to block telepathic signals, so we can only assume that she is somewhere under his control. I--" The Professor broke off as the doors to the labs hissed open and a figure walked out.

John was the first to react. He whipped his lighter out and ran over to the figure, slamming him against the wall. "Where the fuck is she, you bastard?" Ron, shocked and rendered immobile, said nothing.

The reception was squeaking out intelligible protests and Jean and Scott were closing in on the pair. "John!" Jean protested. "Back off, or you'll get yourself arrested."

John turned his head. "I'll worry about that _after_ he tells me where Mina is."

Silence, who had up until then said nothing, chose this moment to pipe up. "That's Mina's ex, Ron." She sauntered over to where her brother had Ron pinned to the wall. "I too," she said, addressing Ron, "would like to know what you did to her." She held her hand up close to his face and encased it in a low flame. She felt a small twinge of satisfaction as his eyes widened in fear. "I can be quite persuasive."

Finally finding his tongue, Ron whispered harshly, "Look, I'll tell you, but not in here. My father can't know I'm talking to you people. In fact, he can't know about you people at all. We need to get out. I swear, I'll tell you, I will, but not in here."

Silence extinguished the flame around her hand and John relaxed his grip slightly. He half-dragged Ron out the door.

The Professor decided that the best place to talk without being overheard would be the mansion. The group travelled in silence the whole way there, punctuated only by Ron's occasional grunt at John's occasional violent shoves. Silence walked behind the two, a burning hatred smouldering dangerously in her eyes. Once at the mansion, they moved up to Professor Xavier's office and shut the door.

"Now, Ron," the Professor said, mentally instructing Ron to take a seat at the desk, at the same time sending a mental message to John to let him. "Please tell us anything you know about the whereabouts of Mina and how you know them. Also know that if you don't tell us everything I will know that you're hiding something. I'm a telepath. So, please, it will be easier for all of us if you just tell us everything." Finished, the Professor folded his hands together and placed them on the desk in front of him with a gentle but firm smile on his face.

Ron gulped, and began his story. "I was upset with her for hiding the fact that she was a mutant from me. It was like she had been lying to me ever since I met her. She even brought up mutants a couple of times and had never once mentioned that she was one too. I was hurt and angry that she hadn't trusted me. I told my father and he said that we would take care of it. I told him that I just wanted to scare her, and he agreed. I told him where her house was. She hadn't exactly told me where that was either, she didn't want to get hauled in for murder, I'm guessing, but I pretty much figured it out. She zoned out every time we passed it. So, my father set up soldiers that his company had hired for security around the perimeter of the mansion to watch for her and at her house. They cornered her at the top of the stairs so she had no where to go and subdued her. I thought that was as far as they were going to go, but then they brought her to the lab. I didn't say anything… You can't really say anything to my father."

He paused, probably going over his remorse in his head, then continued. "He's doing some sort of testing on her. He's got her strapped to a contraption. It shocks her when she tries to use her mutation without his permission so she can't escape. And he's making her transform into people. I don't know why. But it's hurting her, I can tell. Even without sound on the monitors, I can tell how loudly she's screaming…" He broke off, gazing forlornly at his hands, which were resting on his lap. He sighed, and then powered on. "I snuck her a shot of morphine while my father was out. She told me to leave because she didn't think she would be safe to be around if my father achieved what he was planning. I don't know what she meant by that, but judging by the way she said it, she wasn't joking about the dangerous part, so I hightailed it. And that's when you found me. I'm sorry." He looked at Professor Xavier apologetically.

"Thank you, Ron. Now, Jean, Scott, meet me down in the Danger Room. John, Silence, you can come along as well. Ron, I thank you for the information. You may leave. I trust you can find your own way out?" Ron nodded and followed the other four to the door. As he was about to pass through the door, the Professor called after him one final warning, "Ron? Don't tell your father anything about this place. I'm sure you can understand why." Nodding again, Ron left.

Left alone, Charles rested his head on his hands, which were propped up by his elbows on the desk, and sighed deeply. He was sure they would be able to get Mina back – the facility wouldn't be that difficult to infiltrate with their mutant abilities. What he wasn't sure of was what sort of mental state Mina would be in when they did get her back.

* * *

**A/N:**This chapter was pseudo-inspired by Queens of the Stone Age's Lullabies to Paralyze album. Especially Burn the Witch. I only just downloaded it and am/have been listening to it while I write/wrote this chapter. The actual events aren't really inspired by the song… just the way I'm writing it, I guess. I'm easily influenced. ZING! 


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** I do not own X-Men. However much I wish I owned at least one of the X-Men, I don't. Marvel does.

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar  
**__Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 17**

Mina jolted awake with a shock of intense pain. Luther Erikson issued a breathy laugh somewhere to her right, but she didn't open her eyes to see his exact location. She didn't want to know; she wanted to ignore him.

The morphine that Ron had given her a few hours ago had worn off in her sleep, so that now all of her pain and mental distress were flooding back in torrents. On top of all her physical pain brought on by repetitive electric shocks, her mind felt close to breaking. Mina knew that if she were forced to push her powers much more, she'd have no chance of stopping the craze she would enter if the block on her powers broke.

"Mina, wake up dear, it's time for some more _fun_."

Anticipating another shock if she disobeyed, Mina acquiesced and opened her eyes to stare directly into the Luther's face. If Luther saw anything of the raging power brewing in her eyes, he didn't show it.

"Now, Mina, we're going to try this again. I want you to try and turn into this man here," he said, in an infuriatingly calm voice. He waved a picture of a feral looking man with mutton chops in front of her face. "His name's Logan and he's a healer. He has three adamantium claws that pop out from between his knuckles. Understand?" Mina replied with a sharp nod. Luther grinned faintly, and then flicked a switch, releasing the metamorph from her restraints.

Mina closed her eyes and concentrated. She had never transformed into anything based solely on a picture before. She knew it would put even more strain on her mind, but at this point, in her state of pained panic, she was more worried about being punished. Slowly, her thoughts pulled together the information she had been given, as well as some information that, somehow, she intuitively knew, into one coherent entity. She opened her eyes and transformed.

She was hit immediately with an almost blinding pain in her head, in her mind, but she found she could almost tolerate it. _Probably because I can heal. _However, her restraint was still loosening, unravelling, and quickly. She looked imploringly up at Luther, silently begging for release.

Instead of allowing her to transform, he pushed a switch, reattaching the restraints to Mina's body. Flicking another, he turned the electricity on. Mina struggled, but found she couldn't break the bonds, even at her heightened strength.

Luther's eyes flashed with triumph. "Finally, I have the power of the Wolverine in my grasp. You can't turn back, dear Mina, or you will be fried by this electricity. While in this form, however, you can't die and _I_ am able to study you to my heart's content. Convenient, isn't it?"

Mina screamed and struggled. _I can't— I have to get out! I can't think! I can't breath, I can't stop, I need to— _Her thoughts ceased abruptly, replaced by a seething wave of animalistic rage, a conscience all its own. Her body spasmed as inhuman strength flooded it, and then was still.

She snapped her head round at Luther and growled deep in her throat. She could smell the fresh scent of fear that was suddenly present on him and smiled, baring her teeth. Issuing a mighty roar, she flexed her arms and ripped her restraints clean off the table. As if in a daze, Mina felt herself crouch cat-like on the table, now morphed back into her base state, as she watched Luther back-pedal towards one of the consoles on the wall.

He reached into a drawer and pulled out what looked to be a tazer gun, but before he could as much as point it at her, Mina was flying across the room at him in the form of a black panther, tackling him to the ground. He cracked his head on a panel during his descent and was knocked unconscious.

Mina separated herself into several other panthers, and quickly explored the room for an escape route, sniffing at the air for any scent of outside air. Finding none, she transformed into the first thing her instinct required – a telepath, Jean Grey. She smirked coyly and flung the sliding doors open.

She was met immediately with a rash of guards, guns all pointed directly at her. Her over-sensitive ears picked up the minute clicks of the guns being cocked and leapt up angrily, in the form of huge eagle. Landing behind the guards, she was filled with a singular though, a single _instinct_ – escape. She morphed into a silver fox, her most comfortable form, and tore down the hall.

* * *

As the group of X-Men ran down the road towards Erikson Enterprises for the second time that day, Professor Xavier was hit with a sudden blast of psychic energy.

The rest of the team wheeled around at the abrupt halt of the Professor. "What is it?" Jean queried, worried.

His head cradled in his right hand, the Professor sighed raggedly. "It's Mina – her mental block is broken." He looked up, locking eyes with each member of the team in turn, resting finally on John, who was in the lead. "We need to hurry."

* * *

She was being followed – she could smell it. She could also smell the mass of people closing in from every direction. She was cornered; she was panicking. The tiny voice inside her head that was rational thought was railing with indignation and loss of control. She was transforming without even a moment's though, responding purely to animal instinct, in answer to any obstacle she encountered. The scary part, to her, was the complete lack of consideration for what she was doing to the people she ran into.

She stumbled almost drunkenly, covered in blood with her clothes in tatters, into a large, dome-shaped room and paused. In here there were no smells, no smells at all. She crouched into a defensive stance, sensing danger. She couldn't fathom why there would be no smells at all in a room. It didn't make any sense.

Out of nowhere, a large clear case fell at an alarming speed down from the ceiling. Mina tried to leap out of the way, but it was too quick for even her enhanced speed. She was trapped.

Eyes darting around the room, Mina hunched in the middle of the box, assessing her situation. A door clicked open behind her. Mina spun around to see Luther, surrounded by a group of body guards, walking towards her, a small stream of blood dripping down from his left temple and a small crack in his horn-rimmed glasses. His grin was malicious.

"I'm sorry, my dear," he drawled, "but this excessive violence will have to end," Luther stated simply. He dropped his hand slightly – it was an odd motion, but it was apparently a signal. A signal to the guard around him to raise their weapons.

Mina loosed a horrible screech as memories of the other instances of guns flashed lightening fast through her head. Before the guards could even so much as twitch their fingers on the trigger, Mina had transformed into Silence. A raging ball of fire encircled her, the fire at such a high temperature – fuelled by Mina's rage – that it began to melt the glass encasement surrounding her. The memories of pain, however, had not stopped at her recollection of guns. Every single instance that had ever hurt her, hurt her badly, was ploughing through her thoughts like an avalanche. Her fury intensified, and the glass box exploded outwards.

The firestorm followed suit, engulfing the entire room in flames. The screams of the guards dying, of Luther Erikson dying, didn't even reach Mina's tormented mind. She had no control over it, no control at all. She had to make it stop; she had to destroy. Still in the form of her best friend, she mentally pushed the flames outwards to push against the metallic walls.

The walls were resisting. Mina snarled furiously and redoubled her efforts. The flames that had completely encircled her were so powerful that they caused her to float a few feet off the ground. The roof started to form tiny cracks, and the walls began to groan under the turbulent air pressure caused by the firestorm. The little bit of Mina's mind that was still sane was waning further, grasping with futile fervour for any hold on control, pushed down by the immense animal power of Mina's mutation.

Soon, there would be nothing left of her humanity at all.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer**: Marvel owns X-Men. Bah. They rule. But they made Tony Stark ugly in the comics. Like, what's with that? But Ultimate X-Men so far is groovy-cool. But, back to the point, I don't own X-Men stuff, the almighty Marvel does.

* * *

_**Beautiful Liar**_

_Lunn Lady of Angst_

**Chapter 18**

John was leading the charge to Erikson Enterprises, Silence following close behind him. They could feel, more than any of the other mutants in tow, the huge pyrokinetic energy flowing from the building ahead of them. It was bigger than either of the two had ever put out; it was certainly far more powerful. John looked back, shooting a scathing glare at the professor.

"Can't you do anything about her mind? Can't you stop her?" he shouted.

The professor, however, ignored the question. His eyes were closed, his wheelchair being pushed along by Jean, who answered, "He's trying John, but the animal part of her mind is putting up a huge resistance. He doesn't want to push too far in case she gets too defensive."

_In other words, _John thought as he turned his attention back to where he was going, _he doesn't want her to get all psionic on us and destroy the entire population with her mind to make good old Prof X go away._ He quickened his pace.

* * *

Silence picked up her pace to keep up with John, who had once again started to run even faster. _Jeez, I'm out of shape. Gotta stop taking short cuts in the Danger Room. _As worried as Silence was, she was still thoughtful. John had never seemed to care this much about anyone but her. She knew that he liked Mina, but she didn't think he liked her enough to get all worked up and actually try and _rescue_ her. That seemed more like something that she, who was far more empathetic, _not that it would be hard to be more empathetic than John_, would do. However, she was glad. With the level of power Mina was blasting out, both John and she would be needed to bring it down. She didn't even know how Mina was doing it – at least she assumed it was Mina, based on what the Professor had said – but it was more powerful than what Silence had ever put out herself, not that she had really tried all that hard lately to be amazingly destructive. She liked her home just fine un-crispy.

But apparently Mina didn't. Silence could see the blaze engulfing the Erikson Enterprises buildings, and it was _huge_. Just then, the angry-looking sky let loose, showering the group of X-Men with a heavy rain. _Well, at least this might help with the fire…_ Silence scoffed at herself. Of course the rain wouldn't help; the fire was far too large to make any difference at all.

_Well, better hurry_. Silence pushed forward, determined to help her friend.

* * *

Her rage was building, for no other reason but that the building, _the building that imprisoned me_, was still standing. With an emphatic shove of her arms, Mina sent the conflagration billowing even higher into the sky, challenging the rain, with a growl, to even try to stop her. With barely a thought, she morphed into Jean Grey and began telekinetically tearing what was left of the buildings surrounding her out of the ground and into the blaze. The screams of employees fleeing the scene didn't even faze her.

_Stop! Mina, please!_

Mina snarled. That little voice in her head wouldn't go away. It was foreign, unwelcome. She sent a psychic pulse away from herself, disintegrating anything close to her. She wanted desperately for it to leave.

_Mina, I know deep down that you aren't like this. Just try to calm down…_

"No!"

_Mina, you must, please!_

"Leave me alone!" she howled. She heard a crash in the distance. She transformed into silver fox, ears pricked forward, listening intently. She sniffed the air. _People, coming for me. Why? Six of them. Mutants. Powerful. Why? They're close..._ She turned a little circle, investigating her surroundings. Mostly debris and flame. She crouched down, ready to pounce, and waited.

A crash in front of her. _They're here_. She leapt forward, picking her way through the flames, towards the noise. _Get out. My territory. Leave._

One of the mutants, a male, lifted his hands and the fire around her went out. Exposing her. Loosing a terrible snarl, she transformed into Jean again and sent the group flying back with a psychic shove.

_Mina, don't you recognize us? Your friends?_

"GET OUT!" she screamed. "Leave me alone!"

"Mina," called a woman with red hair. _Jean Grey?_ "We're here to help you. We don't want to hurt you."

Mina relaxed a fraction, reverting to her original form, cautious. Jean smiled at her, stepped forward, hand outstretched. "Mina, come home, we can help you."

A shuffle of movement in a far off corner. One of the mutants, male, with a visor, lifted his hand to his head and shot out a beam of red light towards the noise. _Red, hot. Pain. _Memories flashed through her mind, memories of pain, suffering. Evil. _STOP! Get out!_ She crouched, snarled. Ready to flee.

_Mina..._ a tickle, a soft brush of her mind.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" she screamed, shrill. She turned into Jean. Gave the group another massive push. Turning into Silence, she tore around and ran back the other way, moving the flames out of her way and sending towers of flame into the air behind her. More noise, behind her. Two of them. Following. She turned her head. They were pushing her flames out of the way. _NO!_ She turned on her heel. Faced them.

"Mina!" one of them called, the girl. Mina pushed up more flames in front of her. The two others cooled them down. She snarled, tried harder. The other two were too powerful, they were winning. Her fire, her defence, was going away. Going out.

"NO!" She intensified her efforts.

"Stop!" The male, this time. Familiar. _Who...?_ "You're going to hurt yourself, it's too much! Just stop! Please stop, Mina! Please!"

_No, I won't stop!_ Pushing her hands forward, she tried to push the blaze towards them, tried to burn them. They pushed it back, pushed themselves forward. _Get away..._ Mina whimpered, afraid. She tried again, urging the blaze to an even greater temperature. The male pushed himself in front of the other, _his sister?_, and redirected her blow. Mina screamed, frustrated. The fire was starting to burn her arms, sending tiny rivulets of blood down her arms.

Off to the side, a broken beam. Mina saw her chance, took it. Turning into Jean, she sent the beam flying at the pair of mutants ahead of her. The man, seeing it coming dropped. The beam achieved its purpose, though, and hit the other girl in the head, knocking her out. Laughing in triumph, Mina turned back into Silence and focused her attention of the male, who, shockingly, kept coming. _Why won't he stop? Isn't he afraid?_

She was wearing out. She couldn't keep the fire as strong as before. It hurt. The fire was hurting her. "No! Go away," she whined as the other mutant moved forward. _The fire... hurts. Can't keep going... must... stop... no..._ She dropped to one knee, exhausted. Her animal adrenaline, however, would not let her lie down and rest, as her mind _so_ wanted to do.

The male saw his opening, moved forward. Grabbed her arms under the shoulder, pulled her close until his face was right in front of hers.

"Mina," he said gently. _Gently? Why? I know him, don't I..._ "Mina, it's me, John, remember? Pyro? Your best friend's brother. Remember me?" _No, I don't._ She struggled against his grip, but he wouldn't relent. "I helped you find the kitchen on your first day here, remember? I scared the crap out of you in your first danger room session, remember? Please, come back Mina. Please." He pushed a piece of hair out of her face, stroked her cheek. "Don't go. I love you. Please come back to me. I promise I won't annoy you anymore. I just didn't know what to do, I've never felt this way before. Just... we need you. _I _need you."

_John? _Unbidden, memories flashed through her mind again, this time of a house, a huge house, and the person holding her, _John_, and feelings. Happy feelings. Safe feelings. Her friends around her. Her feelings for John. _He loves me..._ _He wouldn't hurt me. Hasn't hurt me. He tried to protect me. Save me. He warned me... I- I didn't listen._ She turned back into herself, looked into his face. Into his eyes. _Yes, I'm safe with him._

Calmed, her adrenaline slowed. Her body, exhausted, couldn't handle her injuries any longer, and she collapsed in John's arms, unconscious.

* * *

She was unconscious. _That means the Professor can help her, make her right again_. He had been so scared, so terrified that he'd lose her. John pulled Mina's limp form against his chest and wept, relieved.

The rain poured down around them, cleansing the earth of blood and ashes. _Everything is going to be alright._

* * *

When Mina awoke, she was on a bed in a room that looked like it belonged in a hospital. For an instant, she thought she was back in Erikson's lab, but she felt someone warm holding her hand and she realized that she was back home, in the mansion. _And my mind, my mind is back to normal._ _The Professor must have put the mental block back in after I passed out_. She looked down at her hand, then followed the arm that was attached to the hand that was holding hers, up to its face. John. She smiled at him, remembering what he had told her to bring her back to sanity.

"Hey," she croaked, her throat raw.

"Hey," he replied, eyes warm, smiling. "You're back."

"I am," she assured him. "Thanks to you."

He blushed and looked down at his hands. He mumbled something unintelligible.

Mina pulled his hand towards her face, holding it against her cheek. "John," she said, "I don't remember what I did, and I don't really think I want to, but I do remember what you said to me." She paused, waited to gauge his reaction. He looked at her, nervous, it seemed.

She couldn't lie to herself anymore, she decided. She now knew what she had been feeling for him since she met him, and it had only grown. Especially after what they'd just been through. _Live for the moment, eh?_ She lightly squeezed John's hand and admitted, softly, "I love you too."

John's face visibly brightened. He leaned over her head and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "I'm glad." He smiled.

Mina lifted her bandaged hands to his face and pulled it close to hers again. "Me too." She closed her eyes and kissed him delicately, warmly, on the lips. She sighed.

She was home. She was happy. She was safe. And she was finally with someone who loved her. Loved her for who she was. She couldn't wait for what the future would bring. She laid her head back down and fell asleep with John's hand stroking her hair, her face. She was content, at last.

**A/N:**It's finished! Complete! Finis! No more! I know the end is a bit cheesey, but I couldn't help it :S I can't help but write cheesey endings to romance stuff, the only romance I've read is Norah Roberts (gag!) so I can't help myself but emulate. I'm like a sponge. In any case, I hope you're all pleased with it, I worked really hard! It took me forever to write crazy Mina, you know. lol. I may write a sequel, but only after my friend finishes her X-Men fic, cuz the sequel would take place after, and I don't want to mess plot points up. Toodles!


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